Probably, the MVPs of the foul-filled battle between No. 1 seed Honokaa and No. 4 Pahoa were the referees: Mason Souza, Anthony Carvalho and Jose Irizarry. ADVERTISING Probably, the MVPs of the foul-filled battle between No. 1 seed Honokaa and
Probably, the MVPs of the foul-filled battle between No. 1 seed Honokaa and No. 4 Pahoa were the referees: Mason Souza, Anthony Carvalho and Jose Irizarry.
The Dragons beat the Daggers 65-43 in the BIIF Division II boys basketball semifinals on Friday, in a game that set several records — none good.
There was a BIIF postseason record eight players, including only three from Honokaa, who fouled out.
The semifinal also ended with 44 seconds left after Honokaa’s Sheltyn Carvalho sank a layup and a Dagger defender was called for an intentional foul — the first and only one of the game.
Another BIIF tournament record was the free throws. Honokaa made 28 of 54 from the line while Pahoa went 21 of 45.
In the other semifinal, No. 3 St. Joseph defeated Hawaii Prep 42-41 on Manato Fukuda’s layup at the buzzer.
The No. 1 seed Dragons (9-4) play the Cardinals (7-6) for the BIIF championship at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Honokaa last won a BIIF title in 2001 while St. Joe’s last was in 2010.
Both have berths to the Division II state tournament, which will be held Feb. 18-20 on Oahu.
Jonathan Charbonneau scored 15 points, Kelvin Falk 10 off the bench and Kamuela Spencer-Herring added eight points to lead the Dragons, who shot 55 percent (16 of 29) from the field.
“I was happy to see Jonathan have a good game. He’s one of the island’s best players,” Honokaa coach Jayme Carvalho said. “He’s so slippery. He can take over the game any time. But sometimes he needs to be greedy and make shots to help the team.”
Vijay Julian scored 12 points, Joel Rosario Jr. 11, Kili Oliveira nine and Keinan Agonias six points to lead the Daggers, who converted 40 percent (10 of 25) from the floor.
The season is over for the defending BIIF champion Daggers (5-8), who lose senior starters Agonias, Oliveira, and Rosario.
There were no physical confrontations, mostly because the referees kept a tight lid on things, putting out sparks of aggression before they turned into brush fires.
Honokaa led 27-17 at halftime in what turned into a free-throw shooting contest for the first 16 minutes.
The Dragons made 11 of 19 from the line while the Daggers sank only 5 of 17 free throws. That was small potatoes compared to the second half.
What hurt Pahoa more was top players Oliveira and Agonias each picking up their third foul in the second quarter.
Honokaa’s ball pressure was also a nightmare for the Daggers, who had 11 turnovers and were outscored off giveaways 10-2 in the first half. Pahoa finished with 20 turnovers, five more than the Dragons.
In the second period, the Dragons went on a 10-0 scoring spree to increase their cushion to 26-13 with 1:40 remaining. They sank 5 of 8 free throws during that spurt tagging fouls and hitting the depth-challenged Daggers where it hurts most.
Charbonneau led Honokaa with nine points in the first half, scoring from the paint and going 5 of 8 from the line.
In the third quarter, Honokaa produced another 10-0 scoring run, including consecutive 3-pointers by Falk, that pushed the lead to 40-20, the largest of the game.
However, in the fourth quarter the Daggers cut the lead to 47-36 with 4:41 remaining, after Rosario swished a pair of free throws.
“We’re making fewer mental mistakes, but I’d still like to see us play four quarters of consistent basketball,” Carvalho said. “We’ve got to make our free throws and layups. They came back on us because they started to hit their free throws. It’s simple basketball — hit free throws, layups and block out.”
Despite the Honokaa coach’s concern, his team still scored a bunch of points in transition, the favorite play for his athletic Dragons, and followed the team’s motto: Get It Done.
Pahoa 6 11 11 15 — 43
Honokaa 12 15 17 11 — 65
