Quarterfinals are underway at St. Francis’ pristine gym in Manoa.
Friday’s scores
Consolation bracket
Campbell 59, Kamehameha I-AA 45
University 60, Kailua 54
No. 7 Kalaheo 40, Leilehua 39
No. 3 Farrington 60, Kapolei 42
Quarterfinals
No. 9 Kamehameha 72, Kamehameha-Hawaii 42
Santa Margarita 68, No. 6 Saint Louis 59
No. 2 ‘Iolani 69, Kahuku 49
St. Francis 63, Mid-Pacific 56
Saturday’s games
Consolation
9 am Kamehameha I-AA vs. Kapolei
10:30 am Kailua vs. Leilehua
Noon Campbell vs. No. 3 Farrington
1:30 pm University vs. No. 7 Kalaheo
3 pm Kahuku vs. No. 6 Saint Louis
4:30 pm Mid-Pacific vs. Kamehameha-Hawaii
Semifinals
6 pm St. Francis vs. No. 9 Kamehameha
7:30 pm No. 2 ‘Iolani vs. Santa Margarita (Calif.)
Kamehameha 72, Kamehameha-Hawaii 42, final
The Kapalama Warriors were too physical for the Big Island Warriors in a contest where officials allowed more hand-checking than I’ve seen in other tournaments. Noa Kinimaka was deadly from deep with three treys and 16 points for KS. Alaka‘i Freitas hustled for 15 and Jaycob Smith added 11 for No. 9 Kapalama.
Sophomore Bayley-Allen Manliguis led the Big Island Warriors with 11 points.
My take on the hand-checking is this: clearly, clearly, CLEARLY, some officials are disregarding the national federation’s mandate on enforcing it this season. Some coaches feel the OIA calls it instantly, while ILH refs haven’t really changed. Could be. But to me, if there’s a mandate, why isn’t it being enforced, PERIOD?
(Just to clarify, I’m referring to the Merv Lopes Classic as a whole, not just one game. And the tourney is all ILH officials.)
As KS-Hawaii coach Dominic Pacheco said, it’s strange.
Santa Margarita (Calif.) 68, Saint Louis 59, final
The Eagles used their height and length to make things tough for Saint Louis offensively. It was another contest with a coach who disagreed with the officials about the lack of enforcement regarding hand-checking, which is supposed to be a point of emphasis this season.
Brett Oosdyke led Santa Margarita with 20 points. Joe Furstinger scored 17 despite injuring an ankle in the second half, and Sjur Berg added 12. Kevin Marks led Saint Louis with 14 points and Jimmy Nunuha III tallied 13. Kolten Nascimento chipped in 11, including three treys.
The game was marred by a collision with 4 seconds left when Saint Louis’ Fred Ulu-Perry intentionally fouled an Eagle by bumping him out of bounds. That led to a some shoving by the Eagles and some players leaving the bench by both sides, though nothing further ensued. Saint Louis was assessed one technical foul and Santa Margarita was tagged with two techs. No players were ejected or suspended.
(Note: I didn’t get to mention this earlier between the videotaping and dead laptop battery, but here goes — This game, by far, had more handchecking go uncalled that any game I’ve seen this season. Not even close. Looks like the ILH season (and some of these ILH officials) is going to be a series of grind-it-out battles.)
‘Iolani 61, Kahuku 31, Q3 1:11
Runaway for the No. 2-ranked Raiders against the Red Raiders.
‘Iolani 69, Kahuku 49, final
Raiders coasted to victory and got a lot of rest time for their starters in the second half.
St. Francis 15, Mid-Pacific 7, end Q1
Saints pounding the ball into the low post over and over, also using their fullcourt press. Owls off to a slow start, but Kyle Husslein has been attacking the basket. He has a way of wearing down man-to-man defenses in the second half.
St. Francis 32, Mid-Pacific 20, halftime
Blayne Won too strong in the low post for the Owls, but I still think they’re going to hang in there. Husslein pounds away at defenses with his hammering dribble (I’m not kidding) and figures out how to create contact and get to the line in the second half.
St. Francis 43, Mid-Pacific 35, end Q3
The Owls are hustling their tails off and got within 6 before Matthew Nuumanaiua sank a sweet 3-point shot as the shot clock expired. After a tough miss in traffic, Husslein was on the floor and slammed his hands down in frustration, drawing a technical. But he hit a breakaway layup as the quarter ended.
St. Francis 60, Mid-Pacific 56, :31.7
Justin Daise just hit two foul shots for the Owls. This is the closest they’ve come since the first half.
St. Francis 62, Mid-Pacific, 56, :28.2
Two free throws tumble in for Nuumanaia.
St. Francis 63, Mid-Pacific 56, final
The Owls threw the inbounds pass in two times in the final minute and never got closer than four in the second half.
Nuumanaia led all scorers with 30 points, including four treys. Won added 19 points. Husslein led MPI with 22 points and Daise hustled for 16.
Consolation
Campbell 59, Kamehameha II 45
Lamart Dudley scored 12, Isaac Hurd had 11 and Michael Merchant added 10 for the Sabers, who played the late game on Thursday, then played this game first thing in the morning (9 a.m.) after another ride from Ewa to Manoa. Haku Durant led the Division II Warriors with 12 points.
University 60, Kailua 54
William Kailimai led the Junior Rainbows with 10 points. Kawehe Hano Kohatsu scored 16 points to pace the Surfriders.
Kalaheo 40, Leilehua 39
Alec MacLeod and Kupaa Harrison led the young Mustangs with 10 points each. Pomai Cozo had nine points for the Mules.
Farrington 60, Kapolei 42
Jacob McEnroe led the Governors with 13 points. Matthew Henderson had 14 for the Hurricanes.
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