St. Joseph coach Mike Scanlan started all of his backups because his team had a long day of doubleheader basketball, but there was one problem.
The Cardinals have only three backups, so regular starters Siam Thomas and Raycen Lum had to play major minutes against Honokaa, a running track team that is good at wearing opponents down.
No surprise, the Dragons capitalized on turnovers to crush the host team 73-44 in the final round of the St. Joseph Cardinal Classic on Saturday at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
The height-challenged Cardinals played tall and physical Kailua, of the OIA, in the late game that ended after the Tribune-Herald’s deadline.
Gene Ansagay scored 17 points, including three 3-balls, and Kamuela Spencer-Herring added 12 points for the Dragons, who shot 41 percent (29 of 71) from the floor, including 3 of 18 from long range.
With its press and traps, Honokaa forced 33 turnovers and outscored St. Joseph 21-2 off giveaways. The Dragons finished with 12 turnovers.
Keegan Scanlan scored 13 points, Dylan Costales nine, and Nanami Taono had seven points for the Cardinals, who converted 39 percent (12 of 31) from the field, including 2 of 12 from beyond the arc.
Scanlan and Ruka Suda played a combined eight minutes, and Suda scored six points. That’s 43 percent of the offense in one quarter of play. That showed how much St. Joe relies on its one-two scoring punch.
The lopsided shot disparity, 71-31, was due to Honokaa’s proficiency at offensive rebounding and all those Cardinal turnovers, often when they attempted to throw over traps.
“With two games, we played our backups a lot, and they got to see what Keegan and Ruka do on a daily basis,” said Mike Scanlan, who also has a double role as Keegan’s dad. “Honokaa is really tough and deep.
“We don’t have any ball-handlers (outside of Keegan Scanlan and Suda), and so far in the preseason our rebounding is killing us.”
At least, there was a shining moment for Taono, a sophomore from Japan. For about two minutes in the fourth quarter, she was a Steph Curry scoring machine.
She swished a 3-pointer to get St. Joe within 55-25. Then later Taono buried two free throws and capped her scoring spree with a pretty putback. The Cardinals still trailed 61-32, but Taono had the time of her life, impersonating the sharp-shooting Curry.
It’s not exactly true that the small private-school Cardinals don’t have any depth. Their junior varsity team also has eight players. However, coach Scanlan prefers to keep them at the JV level to soak in playing experience.
In one way or another, St. Joseph with 65 students, including 12 seniors, is usually struggling with depth issues.
On the other hand, it’s different for a public school like Honokaa, which has a roster of 16 players and a tradition of the school’s best athletes joining the basketball roster during the winter season.
Also, at least for girls basketball, the Dragons have benefited from the HHSAA transfer rule. Sisters Chancis and Eliyah Fernandez transferred from Hawaii Prep, a private school, to Honokaa and sparked consecutive HHSAA Division II championships in 2014 and ’15.
The transfer rule doesn’t go the other way. If a student-athlete goes from a public school to a private one, a sit-out season is required for that particular sport.
“We have talent coming up from the JV. Hopefully, we’ll get more kids coming in,” said Scanlan, who still remembers Isaac Pacheco.
Pacheco, who was at Hilo, entered St. Joseph his junior year, had to sit out for basketball despite a petition, then finally played his 2011 senior year. The statewide transfer took effect in 2010-11.
“He ended up playing soccer in his junior year,” Scanlan said. “I think the transfer rule hurts the kids, but I don’t think it will change. It’s because the ILH recruits.”
Scanlan wasn’t necessarily talking about basketball.
It goes without saying that the ILH and OIA still can’t come to an agreement for football to play each other during the regular season.
• Kamehameha 49, Kailua 46: It was the upset special of the tournament, considering the Surfriders fell to Konawaena 68-55 at the HHSAA Division I tournament last year and that the Warriors didn’t even reach states.
Nalu Kahapea scored 18 points, and Isaiah Nakoa-Oness had 12 for the Warriors, who took a 44-42 lead on a Nakoa-Oness putback with 2:12 remaining.
Everett Torres-Kahapea scored 21 points, draining six 3-pointers, for the Surfriders. He was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 10.8 left and Kailua behind 48-43. The junior guard swished all three.
Then Kahapea kept the suspense alive when he made one of two free throws for a 49-46 lead with 8.7 remaining.
Torres-Kahapea fired from three feet beyond the arc, but his attempt bounced off the rim.
“We executed down the stretch, and it’s just testament to our character and hard work,” said Kamehameha first-year coach Mea Wong, who was also an assistant at the school. “If we continue to grow, we’ll be right where we want to be in January and February (for the playoffs). It was a great tournament for us to go 2-1.”
Kamehameha’s only loss was to Maryknoll, 57-47. The ILH’s Spartans have 500 students in high school and had 14 players on the roster.
• Maryknoll 81, Hilo 62: Marcus Tobin and Kalai Akaka each scored 15 points for the Spartans.
Kekaukahi Alameda scored 16 points, Liko Medeiros 13, and Tyler Kuanoni 11 points for the Vikings.
• Hilo 58, Kohala 55: Alameda and Jojo Balagot scored nine points each for the Vikings.
Isaiah Salvador scored 15 points while Jeffery Francisco added 13 points for the Cowboys.
• Maryknoll 48, Waiakea 35: Makoto Kamata scored 10 points, and Payton Grant and Tyler Brooke each added eight points for the Spartans.
William Soares scored nine points, and Rekky Prudencio had seven points for the Warriors.
In the JV game, Kailua beat St. Joseph 49-28.
In the late game on Friday, Maryknoll defeated Honokaa 67-38.