In the BIIF championship, Hilo senior Trey Une played the best game of his life against Kamehameha, leading the Vikings to their first title in over a decade.
Une scored a team-high 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds in the Vikings’ 55-44 win over the Warriors for the Division I basketball title, Hilo’s first since 2010.
“It feels great. We’re doing this for our family. It’s good to bring back a championship,” Une said. “We’ve been working hard this whole season, and this was our goal. I never led the team in scoring. It feels amazing. I just did it for my brothers. I just left it all on the court.”
Kikahi Deperalta-Huihui had a monster game with 14 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass and added six points and two blocks. Rayson Padilla added 15 points, and Peyton Pana had nine points for the Vikings (7-2), who shot 45%, including 0 of 9 from 3-point range and made 11 of 16 free throws.
Freshman guard Nixis Yamauchi scored 10 points, Braedy Yamada added eight, hitting a pair of 3-pointers, while Kaleb Guerrero and Logan Watterson had seven points each for the Warriors (7-1), who shot 32%, including 4 of 21 from long distance and made 6 of 10 free throws.
Kamehameha will host Kahuku in the first round of the Division I state tournament at 1 p.m. Monday at Koaia gym.
Hilo will play the Iolani-Roosevelt winner in the state quarterfinals at 5 p.m. Thursday at McKinley High on Oahu.
Kamehameha played without 6-foot-4 senior Darius Olloway, who sprained his ankle in the BIIF semifinals against Waiakea.
“Our whole mindset was Mr. Darius Olloway. When he wasn’t playing, it sort of gave us an advantage,” Hilo coach Ben Pana said. “We have a good group of big men. It was the advantages we had with our guys in the post.”
Olloway’s presence in the paint was sorely missed as the Vikings dominated the glass and outrebounded the Warriors, 46-23.
“Trey had an awesome game. He helped us control the boards,” Pana said. “He was able to get a lot of open looks and putbacks under the basket.
“This BIIF tournament, Kikahi has been doing an amazing job for us controlling the boards, leading the team in blocks. The extra points we get out of him is just gravy for us.”
Hilo outscored Kamehameha in every quarter but the fourth, 14-11 first quarter, 15-12 second quarter, 12-7 third quarter, 14-14 fourth quarter.
What hampered Hilo was sloppy ball-handling, 19 turnovers and just five assists. Pana played just 21 minutes due to four personal fouls and ankle trouble.
The Warriors lacked a post offense, but didn’t beat themselves with turnovers. They had just 11 turnovers and two assists.
Une got Hilo’s party started early in the first quarter with six points. He scored on a putback and two buckets in the paint to push Hilo to a 14-11 lead after the first quarter.
Une scored six points again in the second quarter. The 5-foot-11 forward had a putback, a layup and a bucket to give the Vikings a 29-23 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Hilo outhustled Kamehameha in transition. Padilla slashed for a layup in a half-court set. Deperlata-Huihui scored on a layup, and Une and RJ Solmerin scored on consecutive layups when no Kamehameha player hustled back on defense. Solmerin’s layup pushed Hilo ahead 37-25 with 4:47 left.
Une muscled his way for back-to-back layups to close the third quarter with the Vikings in front 41-30.
In the fourth quarter, Guerrero scored on a layup, Yamauchi added another layup, and Guerrero buried a 3-pointer to slice Hilo’s lead to 49-40 with under three minutes.
But Kamehameha was unable to score consecutive baskets, and Une — who else? — closed the scoring with a pair of free throws for the final score.