Waiakea owns a seat at the BIIF Division I playoffs, and it’s playing like it intends to inflict some damage when it gets there.
Calvin Mattos scored 17 points Wednesday night in Waimea, and the Warriors controlled the fourth quarter to surge past Hawaii Prep 45-33 in a battle of BIIF basketball boys unbeatens.
The Warriors (8-0) started strong and finished even faster after trailing by a point entering the fourth quarter. Noah Ferreira scored 12 points and Louie Ondo chipped in with eight.
Ensured a spot in the BIIF semifinals, Waiakea holds a one-game lead against Konawaena and finishes the regular season with four games against Division II teams.
The Warriors kept Ka Makani’s Jonas Skupeika in check, holding him to 11 points. Matija Vitorovic scored eight points and Nakoa Parrish added six.
HPA (4-1) still holds the top spot in Division II heading into a game Saturday at Konawaena.
Waiakea won the JV game 58-48.
Waiakea 13 10 6 16– 45
Hawaii Prep 9 10 11 3– 33
Konawaena 62, Kamehameha 41: The Wildcats used a balanced attack in Kealakekua to down fellow Division I contender Kamehameha.
Ryan Malone led all scorers with 13 points for the Wildcats (6-1), while Austin Aukai (11) and Kamakana Ching combined for 20.
Samuel Kahepea (12 points) and Pakana Vincent (10) were the Warriors (5-3) who managed double figures in the loss.
Konawaena won the JV contest 48-31.
Kamehameha 10 11 12 8 – 41
Konawaena 14 14 21 13– 62
Honokaa 87, Kohala 79: Koa Callihan scored 17 points at Honokaa Armory and the Dragons used five double-digit scorers to hold off the Cowboys.
Jonathan Charbonneau (14 points), Kamuela Spencer-Herring (12), Kelvin Falk (12) and Kea Callihan helped Honokaa (5-2) move just percentage points behind HPA for the top spot in Division II. Honokaa hosts Ka Makani on Monday.
Isaiah Salvador scored 17 points for the Cowboys (3-5), who fell into fifth place in Division II. Maui Hook finished with 13 and Kainalu Emeliano-Solomon added 11.
In JV, Honokaa won 75-46.
Kohala 16 20 17 26 –79
Honokaa 24 20 19 24 – 87
Hilo 71, Ka’u 44: Josh Breitbarth led all scorers with 21 points in Pahala and Liko Medeiros added 14 as the Vikings picked up a much-needed victory.
Hilo (3-5) ended a three-game losing streak and moved a half-game behind fourth-place Kealakehe in Division I.
Jacob Flores led the Trojans (0-5) with 11 points and Joven Padrigo contributed nine.
Hilo’s JV won 48-38.
Hilo 26 16 11 18–71
Ka’u 8 13 14 9– 44
Pahoa 65, Laupahoehoe 20: Vijay Julian and Kili Oliveira led the Daggers (3-3) with 21 and 20 points, respectively, and Pahoa won on the road to snap a two-game slide and move into a toe for third place in Division II with St. Joseph.
Despite Aasyn Datuin’s 13 points, the Seasiders slipped to 0-6.
Pahoa 11 33 18 3 –65
Laupahoehoe 4 4 9 4 –21
