Kailua's Noa Donnelly (30) picks up the rebound late in the fourth quarter against Moanalua. CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 1 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 2 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 3 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 4 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 5 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 6 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 7 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 8 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 9 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 10 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 11 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 12 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 13 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 14 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 15 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 16 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 17 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 18 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 19 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 20 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 21 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 22 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 23 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 24 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 25 of 26

CJ Caraang | SL

Purchase image 26 of 26

Wed, Dec 28, 2022 @ Moanalua

---

Kailua

68

Moanalua

50

Final	1	2	3	4
Kailua (12-1, 23-7)	19	15	14	20	68
Moanalua (10-4, 17-12)	4	11	18	17	50

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

S. Miyasato 17 pts  7/9 FTs

N. Donnelly 21 pts  5/5 FTs

J. Garner 7 tot  3 off  4 def

N. Donnelly 11 tot  2 off  9 def

M. Barcelona 2 ast

J. Philbrick 2 ast

SALT LAKE — Noa Donnelly expects a lot out of himself and the Kailua junior came through on those expectations Wednesday night. 

Donnelly scored a season-high 21 points and was one of three players to score in double-figures to lead the fourth-ranked Surfriders to a 68-50 road win over No. 8 Moanalua.

The meeting of previously-undefeated teams saw Kailua improve to 4-0 and move into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Division of the OIA Division I standings, one-half game ahead of Moanalua, which fell to 3-1. 

Donnelly, a 6-foot-2 junior post, made all eight of his shots from the field and was a perfect 5 for 5 from the free-throw line. His 11 rebounds gave him a double-double, to go along with one assist and a block. 

"Noa Donnelly had a great game. His hands were ready to catch the ball every single time," Kailua coach Wally Marciel said. 

Donnelly had 15 points by halftime and was on the receiving end of a number of nifty passes around the bucket from Jonny Philbrick, who tallied six of the Surfriders' 14 assists; Elijah Stietzel also dished out four assists. 

"It's huge for us," Donnelly said. "Jonny, in my opinion, he's one of the best in the state. He can go get a bucket when he needs to, so these guys are double-teaming, triple-teaming him, so we, as a team, we gotta be set, we gotta be ready, we gotta support him and get buckets for the team."

But Donnelly himself, wasn't all that impressed with his perfect shooting night. He did feel a bit of redemption after an injury limited him to just five points in a win over Kalaheo last Thursday. 

"I should be doing that; I feel like that should be a reoccurring thing, but obviously, you know, I have my up days and my down days, so to me, it feels good because I've been having kind of a slump, so this is just a huge uprise for me just being able to come out and show everybody that, ‘Hey, we're a force to be reckoned with,' " Donnelly said. 

Kailua never trailed and jumped out to a quick lead after a torrid start to the contest; It scored on seven of its first eight possessions to seize a 15-3 cushion following a bucket by Donnelly inside. 

Philbrick's first points came on a lay-up in the final seconds of the first quarter and gave the Surfriders a 19-4 lead. A few minutes into the second stanza, Philbrick assisted on a Nai Iwaki bucket to cap a 6-0 run to stretch it to a 21-point advantage. 

Kailua led at halftime, 34-15, but Moanalua was able to cut it to an 11-point game with a 12-4 run to open the second half after Cyrus Faradineh made a pair of free throws to make the score 38-27 with 3:55 until the fourth quarter. However, Philbrick drove to the basket for a layup and Maddox Pung put back a miss on the Surfirders' next possession to stretch it back to a 15-point lead. 

Na Menehune drew to within 11 again at the 5:15 mark in the fourth quarter on a Jerone Williams basket, but we unable to get any closer. 

Marciel was quite pleased with his team's execution from start to finish. 

"We've been playing good halves and for us to come out and set the tempo early in the game, we've been coming back the first three games, so for us to complete a game like we did tonight, I'm very satisfied," he said. 

Donnelly echoed his coach's sentiment. 

"That was amazing for us. That just shows what we can do as a team and it just shows, all of us, that if we put in the dedication and put in the work, that we can come out and play these really hard games and we can succeed very well."

Kailua shot 54.7 percent (29 of 53) from the field, including 28 of 44 (63.6 percent) from inside the arc. Pung, a freshman guard, shot 8 of 9 from the field to finish with 17 points. He also had seven rebounds, two assists, one block and a steal. 

"Maddox Pung had a great game," Marciel stated. "He is no freshman. He plays like a junior already and when Jonny had two fouls, he had the assignment to pick up Skylar (Miyasato) and I thought he did a pretty good job."

Miyasato, Moanalua's leading scorer, was coming off of a three-game stretch last week where he amassed 70 combined points. The senior guard still managed a team-high 17 points Wednesday, but it came on 5-of-18 shooting from the field. 

"Moanalua is a good team," Marciel said. "They penetrate well and they hit outside shots. Our goal tonight was (to) eliminate the penetration and I thought we did a good job on that."

Na Menehune shot just 26.7 percent (15 of 36) on field goals and 5 of 18 (27.7 percent) from 3-point range. 

Trey Lanier had 10 points for Moanalua, which made 15 of its 25 free throws. 

Donnelly (5 for 5) and Philbrick (4 for 4) were the only Surfriders to attempt a free throw. Philbrick finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Stietzel scored six of his eight points after halftime and also grabbed six rebounds, while Iwaki chipped in with six points. 

"Everybody's keying on Jon, but we got a good group and it showed tonight that other guys can score and especially if the attention is on Jon, somebody is gonna be open and tonight it showed that quite a bit of guys were open," Marciel said. 

Kailua recorded 37 rebounds to Moanalua's 28. 

Both teams continue OIA East play Friday. The Surfriders will host McKinley, while Na Menehune will visit Kahuku. 

ScoringLive reporter Brandon Ching contributed to this report.