Top Performers
HBA's McTee, Damien's Anakalea led respective squads to ILH D2 hoops crowns




Gabriel McTee

Hawaii Baptist basketball  •   #11  F  Senior

Hawaii Baptist boys basketball coach Kellen Kaneshiro likens Gabriel McTee to a certain destructive cartoon character – but in the best way possible.

"I mean, I think the only thing I could really compare him to is the Tasmanian devil, where he, by himself, just creates so much chaos for the offense," Kaneshiro said of McTee, a senior forward for the Eagles (10-0).

"When we're on defense he just creates so much chaos by himself that it allows him to get a lot of steals, but it also allows our other players to get steals, just because of the pressure he puts on the ball-handler, so he makes it really hard to let the other team get going," he added.

McTee, a 5-foot-11, 135-pound senior, has been able to parlay his defense into offense and did so again last week in wins over University Lab and Hanalani. He led HBA in scoring in both games, with 14 points in Tuesday's 47-25 win over the Jr. ‘Bows and he followed that up with a season-high 18 points two days later in a 68-56 win over the Royals.

"He's been amazing in that sense and again, that's just a credit to his defense," Kaneshiro said. "A lot of that stuff we can't draw that stuff up. We can draw up the defense and that we want to get certain things out of that defense and a big part of the game plan in general is to use the defense to create offense so he's kind of our main guy in doing that. A lot of our other guys who score points for us is mostly on the offensive end – driving to layups, getting 3s – but for Gabe it comes mostly from the defensive end: steals leading to fast break lay-ups and things like that, but he's been huge for us the last couple of games."

Kaneshiro pointed one out specific instance during the Hanalani game that epitomized the type of player that McTee is.

"One thing that stuck out to me was his IQ. We ran an inbounds play to get a look that wasn't for him, it was to get one of our big guys under the basket a layup, so we ran it, did what we were supposed to do but we couldn't get it to him, so Gabe ran the play, but he worked his way right to the basket and got a layup and it started one of those runs that helped seal it for us," Kaneshiro explained.

Given McTee's peskiness on the defensive end of the floor, some of the other intangibles that he possesses tend to get looked past, his coach noted.

"I think what often gets overlooked is just his basketball IQ. The defense kind of speaks for itself, but a lot of times on the offensive end we will call a timeout, draw-up a play and have a specific look and a lot of times if that breaks down, he just finds a way to be in the right spot, or he cuts to the basket and gets himself open to get a good shot that we didn't draw up, but he just did on his own and that's that basketball IQ," Kaneshiro said. "He's a menace on the defensive end so everyone focuses on that, but on the offensive end he does something and I'll look to my assistant coach and I'll be like, ‘Well, that worked,' so he just makes us look smart like we drew it up that way, but it's just him being heady."

Although McTee leads HBA in scoring average at 12.5 points per game, Kaneshiro reiterated that it's the energy that McTee provides on defense that is of most value to the team.

"Throughout the course of the game he'll get steals for layups and he runs the court really well so when we're able to get the ball up to him, he's so fast that he's able to get wide open layups," Kaneshiro said. "Our whole philosophy is full court press, because we're not the biggest team, but we do have speed and we try to create havoc by putting him at the top of the press so if he doesn't get steals, he creates opportunities for other players to pick off passes and get steals and things like that."

Kaneshiro has overseen McTee's growth and maturation since the former coached the latter at the junior varsity level three years ago. It was then that he realized the potential that McTee possessed.

"He didn't play much for us his ninth grade year," Kaneshiro recalled. "He came off the bench and wasn't heavily in the rotation, but I could always see that he had that quickness, that instinct for the ball but he was really raw in ninth grade and still growing obviously, but you could tell that he was very quick and very instinctive."

But it was in the preseason of McTee's sophomore season that he found his niche on the defensive end.

"It was our first preseason game and he didn't start, but our starters were struggling a little bit and we put him in at the top of the press and out of nowhere, the first three possessions he got steals for layups so we were kind of shocked by that because we never saw him do that to that level before so we put him in and that's kind of where it started, but that opened our eyes that we can't take him out now so he was a diamond in the rough for us," Kaneshiro said. "We didn't necessarily overlook him, but we didn't expect that from him, but once we realized what he gave our team from that first preseason game, he's been starting for us since that second preseason game.

When Kaneshiro was promoted to varsity coach prior to the 2020 season – which never fully materialized for the Eagles beyond a few scrimmages – he knew that McTee would have to play a key role if his team was going to experience much success.

"Because I had that familiarity with him from JV, I knew what he could do and I knew that this kind of would happen just with the chaos that he creates and we need him to do that because without him a lot of our games would be a lot harder to execute for us, it wouldn't be as easy," Kaneshiro said.

When McTee is able to record steals and convert them into points, it often gets a rise out of his teammates on the bench.

"Oh yeah, absolutely. I think just all that chaos that he causes when he gets those – we call them pick-6s, to use a football term – steals that lead to fastbreak layups, everybody on the bench starts going crazy and everybody on the court gets going so he does drive a lot of that energy for us a lot of the time," Kaneshiro detailed. 

If there is a basketball player that Kaneshiro compares McTee to, it would be the former Chicago Bulls standout nicknamed ‘The Worm.'

"I always compared him to Dennis Rodman on the court – obviously not anything off the court – but like they showed in The Last Dance (documentary), when he's there and he's in the zone, you can't stop him he's so good. I kinda compare him to that where sometimes it seems like Gabe is not paying attention when we're in the huddle, but he's kind of just locked into himself and what he needs to get done," Kaneshiro said. "It took me a while to figure this out because I always thought that he wasn't paying attention, but he's in his own little world where he's locked in on what he needs to get done and when he's focused and he's there, he's a game-changer."

With its win over Hanalani last week, HBA captured its first league title since 2015. The Eagles have secured one of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's four berths in next week's D2 state tournament.

"I'm just happy for our seniors," Kaneshiro said. "Especially after missing out on a whole year, I'm really happy for them that they were able to have a season. We're obviously happy that we were able to get the ILH D2 title that not just the seniors, but everyone, the coaches included, have put a lot of effort into to get to this point, but the job's not done. We still gotta stay focused. We've never really been in this position before, so we gotta focus up even more because who knows if and when we'll ever be in this position again?"

McTee and the Eagles held off UH Lab, 46-44, Tuesday night and close out the ILH season at Le Jardin on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Aiva Arquette, Saint Louis — Scored 22 points with 11 rebounds, three steals and two assists in a win over Mid-Pacific

AJ Bianco, Saint Louis — Scored 22 points in a win over Kamehameha

Kanaau Castro, Lahainaluna — Scored 19 points in a win over Maui

O'Shen Cazimero, Kohala — Scored 20 points with four rebounds, three assists, six steals and a block in a win over Kai

Malu Cleveland, Kaimuki — Scored 20 points in a win over Moanalua

Kade Cunningham, Lahainaluna — Scored 18 points in a loss to Baldwin

Dylan Flanders, Mililani — Scored 18 points in a win over Aiea

Noah Flores Alexander, Lahainaluna — Scored 19 points in a win over Maui

Kobe Gonzales, Baldwin — Scored 21 points, including five 3-pointers, in a win over Lahainaluna and scored 20 points in a loss to Kamehameha-Maui

Tyler Grover, Radford — Scored 31 points with four rebounds, two steals and an assist in a loss to Leilehua

James Judge, Seabury Hall — Scored 20 points in a win over Hana

Ellice Kapihe Jr., Kamehameha — Scored 21 points with four rebounds, one assist, a steal and a block in a win over Damien and scored 19 points with eight rebounds, three blocks, two assists and one steal in a loss to Punahou

Keaka Kauhane, Kapaa — Scored 29 points, including five 3-pointers, in a win over Island School

Keanu Kupau, Kekaulike — Scored 17 points in a loss to Maui

Trey Lieb, Mililani — Scored 21 points, including five 3-pointers, in a win over Pearl City

Daysen Lupica, Kaimuki — Scored 20 points in a win over Moanalua

JJ Mandaquit, Iolani — Scored 23 points in a win over Mid-Pacific

Oshyn Nobbman, Leilehua — Scored 17 points, including four 3-pointers, in a win over Waianae

Jonny Philbrick, Kailua — Scored 19 points in a win over Kalaheo

Kunique Randall-Parker, Kapolei — Scored 20 points in a win over Radford

Kala Rall, Kapaa — Scored 27 points, including seven 3-pointers, in a win over Waimea

Ehu Schenk-Lee, Kalaheo — Scored 21 points in a win over Farrington

Zach Shapira, Punahou — Scored 18 points with four rebounds, one assist and a block in a win over Kamehameha

Tresten Shigematsu, Waimea — Scored 21 points in a win over Kauai

Kale Spencer, Kamehameha-Maui — Scored 24 points in a win over Baldwin

Drew Triplett, Maui Prep — Scored 33 points with five rebounds, four assists and eight steals in a win over Molokai and scored 19 points with three rebounds, five assists and five steals in a win over Molokai

Amari Westmoreland-Vendiola, Kahuku — Scored 24 points with five rebounds, two steals, one assist and a block in a win over Roosevelt and scored 20 points, seven rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block in a win over Farrington

Christian Yagin, Hanalani — Scored 17 points, including four 3-pointers, in a loss to Hawaii Baptist

James Zara, Waialua — Scored 17 points in a loss to Nanakuli

BOYS SOCCER

Winston Abreu, Radford — Scored two goals in a win over Waipahu

Kainoa Carvalho, Kahuku — Scored two goals in a win over Farrington and scored three goals in a win over Kalani

Dixon Davis, Kalaheo — Scored the lone goal in a win over Roosevelt

Porter Ellis, Roosevelt — Scored two goals in a win over McKinley

Kaelele Fernandez, Makua Lani — Scored two goals in a loss to Kealakehe

Jenson Fuse, Kalani — Scored two goals in a win over Kalaheo

Kekoa Kiesling, Baldwin — Scored two goals in a win over Seabury Hall

Carlos Lang, Island School — Scored three goals in a win over Waimea

Kayden Medeiros, Kamehameha-Maui — Scored four goals in a win over Maui

Maka Monaghan, Kalani — Scored two goals in a loss to Kahuku

Brett Nakao, Iolani — Scored the lone goal in a win over PAC-5

Aukele Paikuli-Campbell — Scored two goals in a loss to KealakehePietro Regina, Campbell — Scored two goals in a win over Nanakuli and scored two goals in a win over Leilehua 

Raiden Takasato, Castle — Scored three goals in a win over Kaimuki and scored four goals in a win over Farrington

Isaak Tanaka, Iolani — Scored the lone goal in a win over Punahou

Tanoa Tinao, Kamehameha — Scored two goals in a win over Damien

Skye Ventura-Kahookele, Aiea — Scored two goals in a win over Waianae

Richard Yang, Kaiser — Scored three goals in a win over McKinley




Theresa Anakalea

Damien basketball  •   #14  G  Junior

The Damien girls basketball team is in the midst of a number of firsts this season and focal to much of it is Theresa Anakalea.

Anakalea, a 5-foot-4 junior combo guard, leads the Interscholastic League of Honolulu in scoring average at 18.4 points per game and has been a driving force in the Monarchs' run to their first league championship in program history.

"I would say her best description is probably electric," Damien coach Mark Arquero said of Anakalea, who scored a season-high 26 points in 52-48 win over Hanalani Saturday.

Anakalea made three of her team's four 3-pointers against the Royals and made all three of her attempts from the free-throw line.

"It was a real gritty performance on her behalf. Our other two starting guards fouled out of the game so I would say still with a lot of time, about five minutes left in the game where she really had to carry the load," Arquero said. "She's done it before for her teams, but I would say it was a gritty performance because (Hanalani) knew after our other two guards fouled out that she was our primary ball handler and so they'd pressure her but she still scored seven of our final eleven points and the other four she assisted on, so it was a great performance on her behalf to help us pull through."

Hanalani had won its last five games going into the matchup but ultimately was unable to dig itself out of the 14-5 hole it was in after the first quarter against the Monarchs.

It marked the fifth consecutive win for Damien since a 44-36 loss at Hawaii Baptist on Jan. 28, which is the lone blemish on its 12-1 record in ILH play this winter. Arquero said the defeat at the hands of the Eagles sparked a fire within Anakalea.

"I think after we lost to HBA it was one of those feelings like, ‘we're not gonna let this happen again,' and it really motivated her to really lead the team so she's been really efficient as of late, getting steals, getting easy layups, she probably averages three or four 3's a game, her free-throw percentage has improved significantly lately – she's shooting a way higher percentage the past few games – so she's made a conscious effort to improve," Arquero said.

Anakalea continued her torrid production Monday night, when she scored 21 points in a 64-35 rout of Iolani II. It was the seventh time this season that she eclipsed the 20-point mark in a game.

"Her motor is always going, both offensively and defensively," Arquero said. "She attacks the basket really well, she's excellent downhill and finishes well around the rim. She's a great shooter from outside the arc and then defensively she actually takes a lot of pride in guarding the other team's best player."

Arquero said that there is no question that Anakalea is the tone-setter for the team.

"When she gets going the team really feeds off of her energy. She's our leading scorer, she's our captain so there's a level on which we rely on her in that department, but in practice I think a lot of the other girls are really coming along because they push each other," Arquero detailed.

He noted that Anakalea has been open to making adjustments and is keen to make those around her better. 

"She has trust in her teammates where I think most of her career she's been the focal point of having to score and being the only source of points, but now we've got pieces around her and we've got some good shooters, we've got some good post play, so just trying to get her to understand that she doesn't have to tire herself out by trying to score all the time," Arquero said. "Instead, make the extra pass here and there instead of exerting yourself on every possession, so she's been working on that and I think it's been coming along nicely."

Arquero said that Anakalea's competitiveness has paid dividends for her teammates and fellow guards, Kenna Wengler and Tiare Arquero, which the team has certainly been able to benefit from.

"It's nice that we have the depth that we do this year, but in those clutch situations Theresa always pulls through and some games you see the look in her eye like, ‘We're not losing this game,' and she'll break off an 8-0 run, so it's great having her," Mark Arquero said.

That spirit is indicative of the passion with which Anakalea plays the game of basketball, her coach described.

"She's very skilled having played basketball for a long time and really putting in the work outside of high school season. Sometimes she goes to three or four different trainers throughout the week, she plays club ball year-round so she's just really passionate about basketball and I think having that energy really gives the team something to feed off of," Arquero said. "It's that winning culture, it's that competitive spirit and it translates to the results that she's getting out on the court and it's all a result of the hard work that she's been putting in throughout the year."

As a freshman two years ago, Anakalea sprung onto the prep basketball scene. She averaged 22.3 points on her way to All-Hawaii Division II First Team honors. Later that year she was selected as the female winner of the Pizza Hut Newcomer Award, which recognizes the top male and female student-athletes participating in their first full year of varsity athletics.

"I'm just really excited for her; I think she's someone who deserves it because she puts in so much work," Arquero said. "She commutes daily from Waianae, her parents, to support her, they wake up at four in the morning to bring her to Damien and after practices and conditioning sessions, they don't get home until eight at night, so I'm excited that she's getting that recognition and I'm looking forward to continuing to see her grow."

The Monarchs posted a 6-5 record in ILH play and 11-9 overall mark in Anakalea's freshman season, when they finished sixth at the D2 state tournament.This time around, they'll have a top-four seed and first-round bye when states gets underway next week.

"It's huge," Arquero said of the team's first ILH title. "I'm an alumni from Damien so I love to be able to be a part of it and bring it back to the school and bring them something to be proud of. It's a tough division with teams like Hanalani, the defending D2 state champs, Mid-Pac and HBA are always tough, Sacred Hearts has some good shooters on that team, so the accomplish for the D2 ILH championship was great, but at the beginning of the season we knew this team was special and we're not going to stop here. We want to finish the job that we started."

Anakalea and the Monarchs will be idle until the quarterfinal round of the state tournament on Feb. 17.

"We had a good regular season," Arquero said, "Now we're hoping to carry that over into states."

Along with Damien, HBA and Hanalani also secured state tournament berths. The final ILH representative will be determined through the league's postseason tournament, which gets underway Wednesday and concludes Saturday.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Makenzie Alapai, Kamehameha — Scored 16 points in a loss to Iolani

Brittlay Carillo, Seabury Hall — Scored 19 points in a win over Hana

Raine Chinen, St. Andrew's — Scored 20 points in a loss to Island Pacific 

Mahealani Choy Foo, Mililani — Scored 16 points in a win over Moanalua

Ceci Enos, Nanakuli — Scored 20 points in a win over Farrington

Annabelle Hong, Iolani II — Scored 21 points in a win over Punahou II 

Maela Honma, Kamehameha-Hawaii — Scored 22 points in a win over Honokaa

Keanumarie Huihui, Kamehameha-Hawaii — Scored 22 points in a win over Honokaa

Braelyn Kauhi, Konawaena — Scored 22 points in a win over Hawaii Prep

Jahlyxcs Liana, Nanakuli — Scored 21 points in a win over Farrington and scored 18 points with three rebounds in a loss to Kaiser

Shailoh Liilii, Moanalua — Scored 16 points with 15 rebounds, two assists, two steals and one bock in a win over Kapolei

Olivia Malafu, Kapaa — Scored 33 points in a win over Waimea and scored 15 points in a win over Kauai

Jolie Mantz, Waiakea — Scored 25 points in a win over Keaau 

Mailana Mattos, Radford — Scored 16 points in a win over Roosevelt

Faith Mersburgh, Hanalani — Scored 18 points in a loss to Damien

Daija Mitchell, Island Pacific — Scored 20 points in a win over St. Andrew's

Alana Nagata, University Lab — Scored 20 points in a loss to Sacred Hearts and scored 17 points in a loss to Damien

Hema Nakahiki-Young, Kauai — Scored 16 points in a win over Waimea

KalysaMarie Ng, Sacred Hearts — Scored 16 points in a win over Hawaii Baptist

Haley Ostrander, Lanai — Scored 19 points in a win over Molokai

Julien Parado, Campbell — Scored 17 points in a win over Kahuku

Maria Ralar, Hanalani — Scored 23 points in a win over Iolani II 

Kailana Salazar-Harrell, Konawaena — Scored 26 points in a win over Hawaii Prep

Lishae Scanlan, Pearl City — Scored 16 points in a win over McKinley

Laynee Torres-Kahapea — Scored 18 points in a win over Kamehameha

Dacee Tsui, Kaiser — Scored 18 points with one rebound and a block in a win over Nanakuli

Kenna Wengler, Damien — Scored 20 points in a win over Kamehameha II 

Aadriana White, Kapolei — Scored 10 points with 10 rebounds and three blocks in a loss to Moanalua

GIRLS SOCCER

Kailani Balbas, Campbell — Scored two goals in a win over Nanakuli

Kaia Borje-Peeples, Roosevelt — Scored three goals in a win over McKinley

Saraya Burghardt, Kamehameha — Scored the lone goal in a win over Iolani and scored the lone goal in a win over PAC-5

Kaya Cook, Waianae — Scored two goals in a tie with Leilehua

Aubrey Dunaway, PAC-5 — Scored three goals in a win over Damien

Sienna Kamalani, Kamehameha-Maui — Scored three goals in a win over Maui

Maleah Kanayama, Moanalua — Scored two goals in a win over Kailua

Ryan Kaneko, Kalani — Scored five goals in a win over McKinley and scored three goals in a win over Kalaheo

Sammie Kinoshita, Baldwin — Scored two goals in a win over Seabury Hall

Cheyenne Mattos, Campbell — Scored two goals in a win over Nanakuli

Alexyz Nakamoto, Leilehua — Scored two goals in a tie with Waianae

Xehlia Salanoa, Punahou — Scored three goals in a win over Punahou II 

Riza Santiago, Baldwin — Scored two goals in a win over Seabury Hall

Alysa Slater, Aiea — Scored four goals in a win over Radford

Kamalani Yamashita, Mililani — Scored the lone goal in a win over Kapolei



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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