It was a crosstown rivalry game Hilo and Waiakea won’t forget for a long time and likely for different reasons.
It was a crosstown rivalry game Hilo and Waiakea won’t forget for a long time and likely for different reasons.
Behind an hot shooting first half, Waiakea torched Hilo 73-32 in a BIIF Division I basketball game on Saturday night at the Warriors Gym.
Calvin Mattos scored 23 points, all in the first half, to lead the Warriors (7-0), who hit 65 percent (26 of 40) on field goals.
Noah Ferreira added 14 points, Louie Ondo 11, and Wes Amuiamuia had seven points for Waiakea, which led 55-19 at halftime.
Josh Breitbarth scored 11 points, including nine in the second half, and Liko Medeiros added nine points for the Vikings (2-5), who shot 31 percent (11 of 36) from the floor.
Hilo had zero 3-pointers and scored just 22 points from the field. The rest of its points were on free throws.
Mattos drained two 3-pointers, Ondo had one and Jayston Prudencio swished a trey in the second half that drew cheers from Waiakea’s bench.
If Prudencio’s 3 was the highlight of the second half, when the backups got into the game, Mattos had the play of the night in the first quarter. He bounced a behind-the-back pass to Amuiamuia for an easy bucket and an 18-3 lead.
Waiakea has now cleaned house against all of the Division I teams: three-time BIIF defending champion Konawaena, league runner-up Kamehameha, Keaau, Kealakehe and Hilo.
The Warriors appear to be on their way to the BIIF regular season title, which includes the first berth to the HHSAA state tournament. The other state spot is available in the four-team BIIF playoffs, which will be held Feb. 12-13.
However, there are still a few challenges left for Waiakea, which has Hawaii Prep, St. Joseph and fast-rising Honokaa left on its schedule. The Cardinals knocked off the Vikings 62-50.
Hilo opened with a 1-2-2 zone, and the Warriors shot an incredible 68 percent (21 of 31) from the field to take a commanding 55-19 lead at halftime.
Mattos led the scoring charge with 23 points, sinking an NBA range 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Waiakea a 36-point lead going into the break and putting the running 35-point clock into effect.
It’s not that Hilo hoisted a bunch of clunker shots, but whatever went up usually hit the rim and rolled off. The Vikings went just 1 of 14 on field goals in the first quarter, and made just 28 percent (7 of 25) from the floor in the first half.
It didn’t help that Hilo finished with 21 turnovers, including 15 in the first half. Waiakea had just 10 turnovers and even better than its solid ball-handling a shooting performance to remember.
In the junior varsity game, it was Waiakea 46, Hilo 45.
Hilo 4 15 4 9 — 32
Waiakea 24 31 14 5 — 73
Kamehameha 62, Kealakehe 43: Bayley Manliguis hit three 3-pointers and scored 15 points, and Pukana Vincent and Soloman Escalante each finished with 11 as the Warriors (5-2) eased to a home victory.
Jonah Kaulio led the Waveriders (3-4) with 11 points.
Kealakehe won the JV game 59-56.
Kealakehe 10 7 14 12–43
Kamehameha 11 18 19 14 – 62
Hawaii Prep 62, Laupahoehoe 28: Jonah Hurney scored 21 points as host Ka Makani remained undefeated at 4-0.
Roman Kozinskiy led the Seasiders (0-5) with 16 points.
Laupahoehoe 7 5 8 8 – 28
Hawaii Prep 12 21 14 15–62
Konawaena 74, Honokaa 62: The Wildcats improved to 5-1 with the home win. The Dragons fell to 4-2.