Senior guard Keoua Mahiko scored a career-high 28 points in Kaiser's blowout win over McKinley. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Jan 22, 2016 @ Kaiser

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McKinley

40

Kaiser

69

Final	1	2	3	4
McKinley (24-15, 18-11)	7	13	10	10	40
Kaiser (34-10, 28-7)	20	17	13	19	69

SEASON LEADERS

Chance Kalaugher 18.4 ppg  45 3pm  67.0 FT%

Huthifah Abdel Jawad 12.5 ppg  23 3pm  72.4 FT%

HAWAII KAI — Top-ranked Kaiser was as advertised Friday night.

The Cougars knocked down eight first-half 3-pointers and senior guard Keoua Mahiko poured in a career-high 28 points on 10-for-17 shooting in Kaiser's 69-40 Oahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division win over visiting McKinley.

Kaiser bounced back from its first loss in the regular season — a 54-52 overtime loss to Roosevelt on Wednesday  — to improve to 8-1 in league play with a pivotal home matchup against fourth-ranked Kalaheo (8-1) next Tuesday.

McKinley saw its seven-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 7-2 in the OIA East standings.

The Cougars, ranked No. 1 in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Boys Basketball Power Rankings, knocked down their four first shot attempts and jumped out to a commanding 20-7 first quarter lead.

"We knew that we just had to come out with urgency," said Mahiko, who is 6-foot-3. "That was our big word over the last couple of days since we came out sluggish against Roosevelt. We let one slip away against them. Glad to come out here with a lot of urgency and go up big and not even make it a game from the start."

While the senior guard's scoring streak was exhilarating, it was his defense on McKinley's Dan Villejo that kept the Tigers out of sync. Mahiko virtually played the entire game shadowing Villejo and held him to seven points on 2-for-9 shooting. Villejo also committed five of the 15 total McKinley turnovers.

"We knew that Dan was one of the best players in the state," said Mahiko. "He was a member of our offseason club team. Unfortunately he had torn his ACL over the summer and couldn't come on our trip with us, but we knew he was a solid player. He deserved every bit of defense tonight, but he still got shot attempts every time I let him slip away from me."

Kaiser's hot start can also be attributed to the return of senior forward Chance Kalaugher, who missed the contest against Roosevelt with an elbow injury. The reigning ScoringLive All-Hawaii Division II Player of the Year scored 10 of the Cougars' 15 points to give them a 15-5 lead five minutes into the game. He finished the night with 16 points and six boards. 

"Chance is as tough of a player that we have in the state," said Kaiser coach Branden Kawazoe. "He does it on both ends on the floor. He started hot, got to the free throw early, hit a couple of jumpers and got us going. Defensively he's a lot to handle too. He pounds the boards and leads our team in rebounds. It's just nice to have him back healthy again."

The Cougars knocked down three early treys to start the second quarter and forced a McKinley timeout at the 6:07 mark of the period. Reserves Isaiah Akiona and Jonah Chinen got the run going and Mahiko's triple gave Kaiser a 20-point lead, 29-9.

"They're such a loaded team," said McKinley coach Duane Omori. "Everybody can shoot the ball. They have so much inside-outside presence. They were really focused tonight and they showed why they're the No. 1 team in the state."

Kaiser had a 37-20 lead at the half and led by as many as 31 points in the fourth quarter.

Huthifah Abdel Jawed led the Tigers in the loss with 15 points and Jeremy Coloyan added seven points and seven boards.