Day 2 of the ‘Iolani Prep Classic is underway at Father Kenneth A. Bray Athletic Center.
All four games today include a mainland team, including Oak Hill (Va.), which won the Classic in 1989, ’99, ’03, ’08, ’10, ’14.
Saturday’s games
Dr. Phillips (Fla.) 59, Waiakea 38
Kahuku 60, Mount Vernon (N.Y.) 54
Oak Hill (Va.) 101, Kapolei 28
De La Salle (Calif.) 71, Waianae 35
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Game 8, 6:30 p.m.
FINAL: DE LA SALLE (CALIF.) 71, WAIANAE 35
Game 7, 5 p.m.
FINAL: OAK HILL (VA.) 101, KAPOLEI 28
I had to file my story for the Kahuku-Mount Vernon game, so I didn’t blog this game. It was a dunk-a-thon, Oak Hill simply too big, strong and athletic. It was 93-17 after three quarters.
Game 6, 3:30 p.m.
FINAL: KAHUKU 60, MOUNT VERNON (N.Y.) 54
Fourth quarter
Fotu back on the floor. Not sure why Viloria isn’t playing more. He was in for a few seconds at the end of the third. Avea’s lob pass at midcourt easily stolen again, but he hustles and pins the layup.
Calixte cuts for an easy layup, uncontested, MV 49-43, and Douglas-Stanley swishes a corner 3, 52-43. Their biggest lead. Villa with a runner from the FT line and a wing 3, 52-48.
Villa slices through, feeds Fotu, layup, 52-50. Fotu giving Calixte a tough look at the basket, then swats Eric Monroe’s floater out to the bleachers. But he’s called for a travel on a euro-step pass. That has to go up as a shot to stay legal. Still… #realdeal
Calixte hustling on the offensive glass, called for over the back.
Fotu crucial as the hub of their pressure-breaker, sweet no-look pass to Ah-Hoy, layup, 52-52, 2:56. Wow.
Roberts with a baseline drive and layup, MV 54-52.
HOLEEEEEEE… Fotu with a putback SLAM and foul, 1:36 and they’re on their feet here. FT good, KAH 55-54. WOW.
Calixte battling, jump hook misses and Avea scoops the ball up as everyone else scrums in the paint. Official time out, wet spot, :41.4. If Calixte is 6-8, Fotu is about 6-6 or 6-7. Not as thick as Calixte, but strong. Hedges on the pick-and-roll, uses his lower body and can’t get bumped off the block. Impressive.
Villa fouled at midcourt, 1-and-1, :33.9. Makes the first, and second, 57-54. Roberts misses a tough layup and Ah-Hoy rebounds. Foul on MV, :18.8. Huge upset in the making here. Time out, MV.
:18.8, Villa at the line again, 1-and-1. Good, 58-54. Huge shot. Makes both 59-54. Knights push upcourt, foul on Codie Sauvao, only Kahuku’s sixth. :14.9 left.
Calixte misses a running hook, Avea rebound, Villa to the line with :08.1 left. Makes one, 60-54. Morgan’s 3 from the top blocked by Avea, time runs out. KAHUKU UPSETS MT. VERNON.
Third quarter
Villa has 11 points and he was probably exhausted doing work as the primary ballhander and scorer for a quarter-plus, and when they began to fall behind, Fotu really gave them a lift off the bench. Avea has a summer injury to his foot or ankle, but has his hops and spring. Waiting for him to erupt soon.
Brandon Scott with perfect position, gets an entry pass, easy layup, 34-all. Stennett Alapa with the bank shot in the low post, KAH 36-34.
Calixte misses two FTs, but hustles next time for a layup and-1. Misses the FT, 36-36.
Villa blow-by from the wing, layup and-1. Misses the FT, KAH 38-36. Next possession, his shot is blocked by Calixte, but Avea is there in mid-air for the finger-roll follow. Pretty. KAH 40-36.
Pass down low to Wright, but he won’t shoot, pass stolen by Douglas-Stanley, layup, 40-38. Time out, Kahuku, 3:33.
6-0 run by Mt. Vernon fueled by steals out of a 1-2-2 halfcourt press. It’s just three guys chasing and trapping Kahuku at midcourt. Sloppy (lob) passes and no cutting. Demetre Roberts with two layups and Douglas-Stanley with a steal for another easy deuce, 44-40. Time out Kahuku, 1:37.
Kesi Ah-Hoy with a 3, his first of the game, but Morgan answers with a wide-open 3 from the top, MV 47-43.
End Q3: Mt. Vernon 47, Kahuku 43.
Second quarter
(Correction: Mount Vernon (N.Y.) is not nationally ranked.)
Jason Douglas-Stanley with a tough drive from the top, cuts it to 12-10. Villa fouled dribbling past midcourt, bonus time. He makes one, 13-10. Morgan again, his second trey, now has eight points, 13-13. He’s 6-5.
With 6:25 to go in the second, he has to leave the game, bleeding from the mouth. The Knights have been pressing on ball the past 4-5 minutes, no steals, but picking up intensity on defense.
Villa with a smooth runner off the glass going left, fouled, hits the FT, KAH 16-15. Morgan rains from the top again, right in Samuta Avea’s hand. MV 18-16. Big (6-8) Greg Calixte with the baseline drive, fouled, hits the ground and his teammates rush to pick him up. Hits the FT, MV 21-16.
Morgan back in, gathers a rebound and goes coast to coast, MV 23-16. Kahuku time out, 4:00.
Avea on the low post attacking, fouled, tough call. Misses both FTs.
Inbounds lob, Avea goes SKY high for the dunk, which misses, but it rattles in while he’s hanging on the rim. Awesomely wild.
Douglas-Stanley takes the pass from the post (Calixte) and drains the 3 from the top, MV 26-18.
Morgan picks Villa in the backcourt, contact and a foul. Villa makes one of two, 26-19.
Left corner just a few seconds later, it’s Douglas-Stanley, all net and the crowd hushes. MV 29-19.
Kahuku on a huge 10-0 run. Daniel Fotu, brother of former UH player Isaac Fotu, is the sparkplug with some FTs, and Villa drives in traffic for an and-1 layup to tie it at 29. This place is rocking now. Villa feeds Mark Viloria in the right corner, splash, all net, KAH 32-29, :52. WOW.
Fotu fouled, hits both FTs, KAH 34-29. He’s got a euro-step move, long frame (probably 6-5) and long arms, very active. Not on the roster. Some of the guys here are joking that he’s here only for the Classic. He’s played only the second quarter and he’s already one of the top players in Hawaii.
There’s Douglas-Stanley one more time, a 23-footer from straightaway with a hand in his face at the buzzer.
End Q2: Kahuku 34, Mt. Vernon 32.
First quarter
Kahuku’s transfer guard from Virgina, Jessiya Villa, has all five points so far, including a nice fastbreak finger-roll layup, an and-1. Both teams in man.
Villa very comfortable at the point, nice drive and dish inside, but Taimoana’s shot was waxed by Noah Morgan. Villa is persistent, goes coast to coast for a runner off the glass, KAH 7-4.
Jason Douglas-Stanley with two foul shots, 7-6. He leaves the game with 6:45 to go, bleeding from the mouth and they go 2-3 zone. Hmm.
Game 5, 2 p.m.
FINAL: DR. PHILLIPS (FLA.) 59, WAIAKEA 38
The Panthers improved to 8-3 with a win in their opening-round game. The Panthers are ranked No. 60 in Florida by MaxPreps.
Game 8, 6:30 p.m.
DE LA SALLE (CALIF.) VS. WAIANAE
Game 7, 5 p.m.
OAK HILL (VA.) VS. KAPOLEI
Friday’s games were a treat. P.J. Washington (commit to Kentucky) was one of several outstanding players for Findlay Prep (Nev.), such a versatile, composed, explosive force on both ends. Christian Mejia was rock solid for Kailua in an upset win over Corona del Sol (Ari.), upsetting the nationally ranked Aztecs 52-47. Hugh Hogland, a 6-foot-9 center, was superb in ‘Iolani’s win over Kaiser. Alex Barcello (Arizona) and Saben Lee (Vanderbilt) played well in Corona del Sol’s loss. Southwind was so balanced in an impressive win over Hawaii’s No. 1 team, Punahou. Markylan Freeman, great point guard. Robert Boyd, Carlos Marshall, Kameron Jones… they’re loaded, energetic and fun to watch. Chris Kobayashi played well for Punahou in defeat. The sharpshooter scored a team-high 12 points and had a few crafty steals.
The 35-second shot is making its debut at the Classic, and though games often are up-tempo anyway, it’s a component that forces teams to be opportunistic both early and late in the count. I am not in favor generally of shot clocks at ALL levels of high school basketball, especially with girls hoops where there are massive gaps between the elite and the bottom of the pack. But at this level, the shot clock is a great device.
“In this scenario, you get a lot of these teams that run up and down. It has the reverse effect, you can’t stall on offense, but you can play zone and stall on defense,” ‘Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto said. “Oak Hill can kill you with their length.”
True enough. Unlike the NBA, where the 24-second shot clock revived a struggling league decades ago, they did outlaw the zone until recent years. A long, tall, athletic team playing zone against a small team in a shot-clock situation — major weapon. Not a lot of zone in this tourney so far, though. Here’s to a 7-seconds-or-less hoopla.
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