Waiakea kept running and wouldn’t stop, and Kohala just couldn’t keep up.
The Warriors put on a layup drill to blow past the Cowboys 67-50 in a BIIF game on Wednesday night at their gym on senior night.
Kiai Apele put on a pair of jet rockets and scored layup after layup for 14 points. Senior speedster William Soares added 10 points, and Peter Suiaunoa, the other senior, had nine points, and Rekky Prudencio, the third senior, dropped in eight points for Waiakea (11-1).
The Warriors made more than half their shots from close range and shot 62 percent (26 o 42) to claim the league’s unofficial title of the BIIF’s second-best team. Their only loss was to Hawaii Prep, 61-50.
O’Shen Cazimero scored 18 points, including just two points in the second half, for the Cowboys (10-2), whose only other loss was to HPA, 70-66.
Kohala just couldn’t get easy baskets and were forced to take tough jump shots and made just 38 percent (18 of 47) from the field.
Three plays in the fourth quarter pretty much summed up the game.
Dawstin Hoopai scored on a layup, after the Cowboys passed the ball five times to open the final eight minutes. That cut the score to 53-40.
Then Soares raced down the court, sliced through the defense and put in a reverse layup. Waiakea, which will face either Keaau or Kamehameha on Tuesday in the BIIF Division I semifinals, forced a turnover, passed to Soares, who zipped past everyone and attempted another layup. He was fouled, the ball didn’t drop, but he buried both free throws for a 57-40 cushion, the largest in the game.
The Cowboys, who will take on Honokaa in next week’s Division II semifinals, had to really work for their points. The Warriors scored with pretty much relative easy on a night where much went their way.
Jeffrey Francisco followed with a 3-pointer, and Moses Emeliano dropped another long ball to get Kohala within 57-46 with 4:55 left. But the Cowboys were running an uphill battle. Cazimero hit a jump shot, his only basket in the second half, to get Kohala within 60-48 with four minutes remaining.
The Warriors put on their track shoes again and closed the fourth period with a 7-2 run. Makana Kaehuaea-Credo scored, Apele hit a free throw, then a made a layup, and Keegan Scanlan dropped in another layup.
Hoopai closed the scoring with a jump shot, and the Warriors kicked off their senior celebration.
Kohala finished with 12 turnovers while Waiakea had 10 giveaways, playing with better ball-handling and ball-sharing, often passing before traps and trouble arrived.
The three Waiakea seniors, Soares, Prudencio, and Suiaunoa, each brings a different skill set to the team. Soares is an athletic inside score, Prudencio is a deadly 3-point artist (he swished a pair of 3-pointers), and Suiaunoa is a tough rebounder and paint presence.
The thing they all have in common is they can all hit layups.
In the first half, Cazimero scored 16 points, but Waiakea had better balance. Apele had nine points, Elijah Blankenship seven, and Soares six points.
The Warriors relied on dribble-penetration and scored more than half their points on layups or close-range shots. Kohala had difficulty stopping Waiakea off the dribble.
Waiakea went on an 11-0 run in the first quarter, capped by Scanlan’s 3-pointer to grab a 19-10 lead.
In the second quarter, the two teams continued to play at an uptempo pace, and Kohala cut the lead to 29-25 on a Cazimero 3-pointer.
But the Warriors kept running and attacking the rim.
Soares glided in for a layup and a 34-26 lead with under two minutes. Francisco answered with a 3-ball for the Cowboys.
Then Blankenship converted on a three-point play, and Apele dropped in a layup right before the buzzer to help Waiakea take a 39-29 lead in halftime.
In the JV game, it was Waiakea 51, Kohala 38.
Kohala 10 19 9 12 — 50
Waiakea 19 20 14 14 — 67
Hawaii Prep 66, Hilo 60: Valentinas Ulinas scored 20 points in Waimea as undefeated Ka Makani overcame a 3-point barrage from Rayson Padilla to claim the regular-season Division II title and an automatic berth in the HHSAA tournament.
Padilla scored 26 points for the Vikings (7-5), who led 20-15 after the first quarter but took a one-point lead at the break. Mason Galima scored 18 for Hilo.
Javan Perez added 13 points and Michael Hughes had 12 for HPA (12-0), which take the court first Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. at the BIIF semifinals at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, taking on either Pahoa or Ka’u.
The Vikings play in the nightcap at 7 p.m. against Konawaena with a Division I state berth on the line.
Hilo won the JV game 47-42.