It’ll be Hawaii Prep’s length and half-court precision against Kohala’s speed and the brilliance of freshman O’Shen Cazimero for the BIIF Division II basketball championship.
It’s not exactly the old fable of the hare vs. the rabbit, but it’ll be an interesting matchup because each team has more of a certain skill set than the other.
HPA’s roster is filled with players 6 feet and taller while Kohala has a smooth-dribbling layup artist in Cazimero, who makes his living dropping layups and free throws.
Each team relied on its strengths to power past their opponent in the BIIF semifinals on Tuesday at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. Hawaii Prep towered past Pahoa 55-33, and Kohala smothered Honokaa 71-41 in two stark contrast semifinals, one a half-court session and the other a running sprint.
The Cowboys (11-2) and Ka Makani (13-0) will play for the BIIF Division II championship at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Hilo Civic.
The last time the two meet in the title game was in 2014, when Kohala won and HPA then captured the state championship, the school’s first.
HPA 55, Pahoa 33
Valentinas Ulinas produced a double-double with 16 points on 7 of 14 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds, and KJ Walker and Michael Hughes added eight points each for Ka Makani, who shot 39 percent (20 of 52) from the field.
The Daggers (6-7) more than held their own on the boards, outrebounding HPA 41-38. But they couldn’t get their putback attempts to drop. They shot just 21 percent (11 of 53) from the floor.
Jayden Broad-Melander scored eight points, Duke Palma and Damon Romero had five points each for Pahoa, which trailed 22-14 at halftime.
But Ka Makani outscored the Daggers 14-5 in the third quarter. Matija Vitorovic hit his lone 3-pointer, then Ulinas scored on a layup, Walker followed with a 3-pointer, and Ulina used his 6-foot-5 frame to score inside for a 36-19 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
Romero grabbed 10 rebounds. But the Daggers couldn’t get their putback attempt to fall, and they went just 4 of 23 from beyond the arc.
Ka Makani made sure to value each possession and worked to get off a clean shot, a game plan that worked to perfection
“I liked that we played possession by possession,” HPA coach Fred Wawner said. “It was a grind but we stuck to our principles. That’s the key in this type of atmosphere.”
Pahoa 4 10 5 14 — 33
HPA 11 11 14 19 — 55
Kohala 71, Honokaa 41
The first half was a track meet. The Cowboys were able to break Honokaa’s full-court press, score baskets and led 35-15 at halftime, keyed by Cazimero, who scored 19 points. He got too many easy points: four layups and went 8 of 10 from the free throw line.
Cazimero finished with 26 points on 5 of 10 shooting and made 15 of 18 free throws while Koby Agbayani and Elijah Antonio added 12 points each for Kohala, which shot 43 percent (18 of 42) from the floor.
Issac Jardine scored 11 points, and Brandon Ragasa had six points off the bench for the Dragons, who couldn’t get the rest of their starters on track. Honokaa shot just 36 percent and didn’t help itself with 29 turnovers.
The Dragons (5-9) were physical under the boards. They rebounded misses off dribble-penetration attacks and often got their putbacks to go in. But they cost themselves possessions with 13 turnovers in the first half.
Kohala freshman Agbayani drained a pair of 3-pointers, and Antonio swished another for a 45-31 lead with under three minutes.
The Cowboys made 29 of 39 from the free throw line while the Dragons converted 11 of 23 from the line.
In the fourth quarter, Honokaa hit a pair of free throws, and Kohala responded with a 14-0 run. That made it 62-35 with under two minutes to go.
“We played better defense, and help-side defense in the second half and hit our free throws,” said Kohala coach Don Fernandez, who expects even more from his freshman standout. “To be honest, I’d like to see him share the ball a little more.”
Cazimero had just one assist, but the did everything else: 26 points, five rebounds, and two steals.
Honokaa 10 15 9 7 — 41
Kohala 12 23 13 23 — 71