Kirk Imai scored 17 points Tuesday night and Keaau won overtime to continue its late-season surge with a 59-56 victory at its gym against Hilo, which clinched a playoff spot even as its four-game winning streak was being snapped.
The Vikings (6-6) secured the No. 4 in the Division I playoffs when Kealakehe lost to Konawaena on Tuesday. Hilo, which was led by Lawrence Padasdao (16 points) Isaac Liu (15) , will face Waiakea on Feb. 12 in the semifinals.
If only the Cougars (4-7) could have gotten hotter sooner. Rico Handy and Charles Caldwell finished with 13 points apiece for Keaau. The Cougs have followed a seven-game losing streak with three victories in a row heading into their finale Thursday at Laupahoehoe.
Liko Medeiros had 10 for Hilo, which cooled off after taking a 19-12 lead into the second quarter.
Keaau won the junior varsity game 36-31.
Hilo 19 10 10 10 7–56
Keaau 12 13 10 14 10–59
Waiakea 82, Honokaa 73: Calvin Mattos scored 22 points, Kahinu Alapai chipped in with 15 and the host Warriors overcame a rare halftime deficit to clinch the top seed in the Division I playoffs.
If Waiakea (11-0) wraps up an undefeated regular season Thursday at Kohala, it will secure an automatic berth to the HHSAA tournament. Noah Ferreira added 14 for the Warriors, who trailed by five at the half before outscoring the Dragons 25-12 in the third quarter.
Jonathan Charbonneau led all scorers with 22 for Honokaa (7-4), which saw it lead atop Division II fall to a half-game over Hawaii Prep (6-4). The Dragons finish the regular season Thursday at Pahoa, while Ka Makani has games left Thursday at Kamehameha and Saturday at home against Pahoa.
Kelvin Falk scored 17 for Honokaa and Koa Callihan contributed 13.
Honokaa 18 25 12 18 –73
Waiakea 21 17 25 19–82
Konawaena 55, Kealakehe 33: Kupono Kane scored 16 and Austin Ewing netted 11 as the Wildcats continued their tear with the playoffs nearing, winning their ninth in a row.
Reyson Ching also added 10 points for Konawaena (10-1), which will be seeded second and take on Kamehameha on Feb. 12 in the Division I semifinals.
Blaine Broberg had 10 on senior night for the Waveriders (4-7), while Jonah Kaulia (8) and Abraham Kalavi combined for 15.
Hawaii Prep 43, St. Joseph 30: Dylan Dikobo and Jonah Hurney each scored 10 points as Ka Makani dominated in the second half in Waimea to finally get out of their funk, winning for only the second time in six games.
Cole DeSilva finished with 12 points for the Cardinals, who have lost three in a row to fall into fourth place in Division II. St. Joe can clinch a playoff spot Thursday either with a win at home against Kealakehe or a loss by Kohala to Waiakea.
In JV, HPA won 49-32.
St. Joseph 6 13 6 5 – 30
HPA 9 11 1 3 10– 43
Pahoa 61, Ka’u 34: Keinan Agonias tallied 26 points and Kili Oliveira added 16 in Pahala as the Daggers bolstered their playoff positioning with an easy victory.
Pahoa (5-5) needs one more win or a Kohala loss to clinch a playoff spot, and it could be seeded anywhere from 1-4 depending on how it fares against Honokaa and HPA.
Janslae Badua led the Trojans (1-10) with nine points.
Ka’u’s JV won 48-29.
Pahoa 13 15 18 15 –61
Ka’u 4 14 12 4– 34
Kamehameha 68, Laupahoehoe 26: Colin Calip and Cody Cook each scored 10 points as the visiting Warriors improved to 8-3.
Kadan Stamm led the Seasiders (0-11) with nine points.
In JV, Kamehameha beat Parker 53-24.
KS-Hawaii 24 16 16 12 –68
Laupahoehoe 9 3 4 10– 26
