The basketball miracle before Christmas almost happened, but Kamehameha ran out of time against Waiakea.
Waiakea held off Kamehameha 61-51 in a BIIF Division I showdown on Saturday night at the Warriors Gym, where the visiting Warriors trailed by 19 points in the third quarter before a late rally.
Kia’i Apele scored 24 points to lead a balanced attack for Waiakea (1-0), which shot 50 percent (20 of 40) from the field, including 2 of 12 from 3-point range.
Elijah Blankenship worked his way in the paint to add 14 points, Keegan Scanlan had 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Makana Kaehuaea-Credo scored 11 points.
Kaupena Yasso scored 15 points, Koby Tabuyo-Kahele added 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Izayah Chartrand-Penera had seven points for Kamehameha (0-2), which shot just 29 percent (16 of 56) from the floor, including 6 of 23 from beyond the arc.
“They’re a physically strong team, and we battled enough with them on the boards,” Waiakea coach Paul Lee said. “They did a good job at the end, getting offensive rebounds and putbacks. They knocked down their shots.”
Tabuyo-Kahele drained a 3-pointer to cut Waiakea’s lead to 59-51 with 1:59 remaining. Then Waiakea hit 2 of 4 free throws to close out the game.
In the fourth quarter, Waiakea went to a zone to counter Kamehameha’s size. The visiting Warriors started to work the ball inside and got to the free throw line. However, they made just 10 of 15 free throws, not enough to close the gap.
Kamehameha made the mistake of fouling Apele too much. He’s solid from the free throw line and made 7 of 8. His team went 14 of 22 from the line.
For the first three quarters, the visiting Warriors relied heavily on their outside shooting. It was a cold, rainy night three days before Christmas, and the rim was not in a benevolent mood. Kamehameha shot 22 percent (6 of 27), including 1 of 9 from 3-point territory in the first half.
Apele was absolutely brilliant in the second quarter, when he scored 13 of his team’s 16 points. He scored on a layup, then slashed in the lane and hit a one-handed floater, and later missed a jump shot but grabbed his own rebound and scored on a putback.
He wasn’t quite done. He nailed a 3-pointer, and Chartrand-Penera interrupted his time in the scoring zone with a 3-pointer. Tabuyo-Kahale followed with a jump shot to get Kamehameha within 27-17.
Apele jumped right back into the zone. He hit a jump shot and race in for a layup right before the halftime buzzer for a 31-17 halftime cushion.
When the fourth period finally rolled around, Kamehameha found itself handicapped when Darius Olloway, a 6-foot-3 sophomore and the team’s best rebounder, fouled out with 6:35 left. A few minutes later, Chartrand-Penera also fouled out.
Waiakea coach Lee made a smart move when he left his starters in, despite a 49-33 lead entering the final eight minutes.
Kamehameha turned up its defensive pressure and forced five turnovers in the final period. The host Warriors finished with 10 turnovers. Kamehameha had a dozen turnovers, including only two in the fourth quarter.
“I’m just glad we got through this game because that’s not a team I like to play. They got so much experience, a great coaching staff,” Lee said. “They work well together. This is our first BIIF game of the year. We should get better.”