KEAAU – From the field and free-throw line, nothing was falling for Keaau all night long against Pahoa, which played a tough 1-3-1 zone, until points were desperately needed from Patrick Mears.
KEAAU – From the field and free-throw line, nothing was falling for Keaau all night long against Pahoa, which played a tough 1-3-1 zone, until points were desperately needed from Patrick Mears.
Mears hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime to lift Keaau over the Daggers 43-41 in it BIIF season-opener on Friday night at the Cougars Gym, where the home crowd exploded in celebration.
Keaau’s victory spoiled the freshman debut of 5-foot-10 forward Damon Romero, who scored a game-high 23 points, racing to the rim and drilling step-back jump shots.
Mears finished with 18 points, sinking 8 of 10 from the line, Reynaldo Arcellana added nine points, and Delvin Ongais-Kilaulani had six points for the Division I Cougars (1-0), who shot just 22 percent (11 of 50) from the floor and made 13 of 25 free throws.
Darin Valdez, a junior forward and transfer from Texas, contributed six points for the Division II Daggers (1-1), who converted 56 percent (15 of 27) from the field and buried only 12 of 27 free throws.
The host Cougars had a huge rebounding advantage over the Daggers, grabbing tons of offensive boards, which accounts for the wide disparity of field goal attempts, 50 to 27.
But what really hampered the young Daggers, who only have three seniors in Kealii Luis, Ryan Tatasi, and Dillon Tabbal, was turnovers. Pahoa had 36 giveaways; Keaau had just 17 and held a 9-1 scoring edge off free gifts.
Pahoa lost three key starters off last season’s BIIF semifinal team that lost to Honokaa. One starter, Vijay Julian, moved to Oahu. It’s sort of a new-look for the Daggers, who were missing one of their top shooters in freshman Jaymin Santiago-Burns, who was out with the flu.
Likewise, the Cougars were missing one of their key pieces in junior guard Rico Handy, who was out with an injury. Handy is the team’s best rim attacker and would have been an asset against a 1-3-1 zone.
For Keaau, it was a vital win because the Division I race figures to be a musical chairs battle with six teams jockeying for four BIIF playoff spots.
Maybe that’s why coach Jun Pagala was all smiles after the game.
“You have to give credit to coach Marc (Saito). They played with a lot of heart, but our boys played with heart, too,” Pagala said. “We didn’t give up. We were down, down and down, but we kept fighting. It’s a good way to start the season.”
The last shot wasn’t even designed for Mears, who was at the wing. With 1.6 seconds left, Branden Pagala inbounded the ball to Mears, who was supposed to feed Keaau’s 3-point specialist Arcellana at the corner, the highest percentage shot area for long balls.
But when Mears caught the ball, Arcellana was covered, and Mears squared up and pulled the trigger. The junior forward hit nothing but net for his first BIIF game-winner.
“Like I said about the kid, he’s very athletic, and he’s very smart on the court,” Pagala said. “He recognizes things. He was supposed to give the ball to Rey, but he made a good decision and shot the ball.”
The Cougars played a sagging man but tightened their defense and applied a full-court press in the second half.
In the third quarter, Pahoa’s press-break offense delivered to the ball to Romero, who scored three straight baskets on layups to tie it 21-21 with 5:05 left.
And he raced in with a full-court layup right at the buzzer to put the Daggers up 25-24 entering the fourth period. Romero scored nine of Pahoa’s 11 points in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Romero swished two free throws for a 32-32 tie with eight seconds remaining to force overtime.
Early in OT, Arcellana and Ongais-Kilaulani buried back-to-back 3-pointers. And much later, Romero sank a step-back 3-ball for a 41-40 lead with 8.7 seconds to go.
Then the Cougars called timeout with 1.6 seconds left and set up their play at halfcourt. From there, Mears took over with his clutch 3-pointer, only the 11th field goal for Keaau but what turned out to be the game-winner.
Pahoa 5 9 11 7 9 — 41
Keaau 8 10 6 8 11 — 43
Waiakea 68, Ka’u 30
Calvin Mattos scored 16 points to lead four Warriors in double figures in a BIIF season-opener in Pahala.
Kenneth Bugado and Wesley Amuimuia each scored 11 for defending league Division I champion Waiakea, and Shaun Kojima finished.
The Trojans fell behind 48-15 at halftime. Joven Padrigo scored 12 points for Ka’u.
Waiakea 24 24 5 15 – 68
Ka’u 8 7 4 11– 30