The mission was simple enough for Ka’u: beat Hilo and hope Kamehameha pulls rank as a favorite over St. Joseph. ADVERTISING The mission was simple enough for Ka’u: beat Hilo and hope Kamehameha pulls rank as a favorite over St.
The mission was simple enough for Ka’u: beat Hilo and hope Kamehameha pulls rank as a favorite over St. Joseph.
But Hilo played spoiler on its Senior night with a 74-53 victory over the Trojans in a BIIF game with significance for only one team on Saturday night at the Vikings Gym.
If that combination worked, then Ka’u would secure the No. 4 seed to the four-team BIIF Division II playoffs, which run Thursday-Friday at Hilo Civic.
But Lawrence Padasdao scored 14 points, Kaale Tiogangco 11, and Isaac Liu had 10 points to lead the Division I Vikings (6-6), which bid goodbye to seven seniors: Padasdao, Tiogangco, Crescen Nobriga, Jo Joe Villa, Kyle Yowan, Sirius Yrondi, and Jax Uyemura.
Janslae Badua scored 17 points, drilling three 3-pointers, Pete Dacalio 10, and Titan Ault nine points for the Division II Trojans (3-9), who trailed just 23-22 at halftime.
The Vikings outscored the visitors 51-31 in the second half, ripping off a 9-0 run in a decisive third quarter.
Ka’u had eight turnovers in the third period, and Hilo capitalized with a 14-0 scoring advantage. The Vikings kept scoring in transition and made 6 of 14 field goals during their point spree.
St. Joe fell to Kamehameha 76-49 on Saturday, so the Cardinals (3-9) and Trojans will meet in a BIIF tourney play-in game at 6 p.m. Monday at Hilo Civic.
In the fourth quarter, Hilo and Ka’u turned the basketball court into a track meet, but that favored the Vikings, who either scored in transition or on putbacks and outscored them 31-23 in the final eight minutes.
With 6:03 left, the Viks went on a 10-0 run, highlighted by Liu, who had two assists and finished the streak with a 3-pointer.
Later in the fourth quarter, Liu drilled another 3 on Hilo’s fourth shot attempt for a 61-41 lead, and with 1:50 to play Tiogangco drained a 3-ball on a second-shot attempt.
It was much closer in the first half, when the Trojans shared the ball on fast-breaks and found buckets under the basket by Ault.
In the second quarter, Ka’u made a strong push down 19-13 with under five minutes when Badua sank 3 of 4 technical foul free throws.
Then Andre Carvalho scored on a fastbreak off a nice feed from Joven Padrigo. Then Padrigo followed with two free throws for a 20-19 lead with 2:21 left in the second quarter.
Yrondi scored off a Trojan turnover off an inbound pass to push Hilo ahead 21-20. The visitors tried to throw long balls but were intercepted.
Later, Dacalio dished to Ault, who scored under the basket for a 22-21 lead with 41.2 seconds remaining. But Liu scored on a putback to put Hilo ahead again, 23-222, with under 16 seconds until the break.
In the JV, it was Hilo 50, Ka’u 45.
Ka’u 8 14 8 23 — 53
Hilo 14 9 20 31 — 74
Keaau 51, Hawaii Prep 29
In something of a shocker, the Cougars pulled out a solid road win against Ka Makani, who beat Waiakea 60-44 last Saturday.
Rico Handy scored 15 points for Division I Keaau (8-4), which lost to the defending BIIF champion Warriors 63-47 back in December.
Jonah Hurney scored nine points for the Division II Ka Makani (8-4), who trailed 23-11 at halftime.
The win was a confidence booster for the Cougars, who still retain the No. 4 seed in the four-team BIIF Division I tournament.
In the JV, it was HPA 37, Keaau 31.
Keaau 8 15 15 13 — 51
Hilo 3 8 11 7 — 29
