Keaau High, the ball is in your court heading into the final weekend of the BIIF boys basketball regular season.
A pair of Friday night games in North Hawaii will help clear the Division I playoff picture, with the Cougars heading to Honokaa with a chance to clinch the final postseason spot.
Keaau (8-4) moved a full game ahead of Kealakehe (7-5) in fourth place on Wednesday when the Waveriders were surprised by Ka’u, losing 51-44 in Pahala.
Kealakehe has a tough test of its own Friday, playing a streaking Hawaii Prep team that is coming off of a home overtime win against Waiakea. Ka Makani’s ninth win in a row Wednesday secured the BIIF regular-season Division II title ahead of a six-team playoff and an automatic state berth.
Along with HPA, Honokaa (8-4) also has clinched a bye into Wednesday’s D-II semifinals at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
Also retaining hopes for the final Division I playoff spot is Hilo (7-5), which needs a Cougars loss and win of its own Saturday night at Kohala to tie for fourth. Regardless of the outcome, the Cowboys (4-8) will be the fourth seed and host a first-round playoff game Tuesday.
In the event of a tie for fourth in D-I, a play-in game would be held Monday. If it’s Keaau and Hilo, the Vikings would host since Keaau’s was the home team during the regular season.
A Cougars-Waveriders play-in game would be held at Keaau.
It’s unknown what the BIIF would do in the event of a three-way tie for fourth.
In another game Friday night, Konawaena visits Waiakea in a battle of 9-3 teams likely destined to face one another Tuesday at Hilo Civic in the semifinals. However, a loss by the Warriors and a win by Keaau would drop Waiakea to the fourth seed and a semifinal against undefeated Kamehameha.
Wednesday
Hawaii Prep 57, Waiakea 55, OT: Matija Vitorovic (15 points) and KJ Walker (13) reached double figures and Michael Hanano hit the go-ahead free throws with 33 second remaining in overtime to lift HPA, which trailed by three points entering the fourth quarter.
Rekky Prudencio led the Warriors with 21 points and missed a potential game-winning 3-pointers at the end of OT. William Soares added 14.
Ka’u 51, Kealakehe 44: Andre Carvalho and Isaiah Pilanca-Emmsley each scored 12 points and the Trojans surged from a halftime tie to even their record at 6-6 with their best win of the season.
Madito Tamayo added 10 for Ka’u, which will host a home playoff game Tuesday as the third seed in Division II.
For the Waveriders, Bryton Lewi and Howard Robert each finished with 16 points and Kainoa Jones had 12.
Konawaena 65, St. Joseph 39: At Hilo Civic, Paka Cacoulidis paced the Wildcats with 18 points and Bronson Rivera added 12.
Keegan Scanlan (12) and Ruka Suda (10) reached double figures for the Cardinals (1-10), who can lock down a D-II playoff spot with a win Friday at Laupahoehoe (0-12).
Pahoa (2-10) already has clinched a playoff spot and will either be the fourth or fifth seed depending how it fares Saturday at home against St. Joe.
Parker 60, Laupahoehoe 47: The visiting Bulls finished their first season back in varsity play with their first win.
