O’shen Cazimero started with a dunk and got better from there.
The senior picked up where he left off at the HHSAA Division II boys basketball tournament.
Scoring-wise, Kohala’s Big 3 was more of a Big 2 and at times a Big 1, but even when the shots weren’t always falling that was more than enough for the Cowboys to paste Waipahu 60-45 in the quarterfinals Thursday night at Kalani High in Honolulu.
“Everybody came out pretty flat except O’shen,” coach Kihei Kapeliela said. “He did all the scoring, rebounding, got steals.”
Playing at the state tournament for the first time since leading Kohala to the crown as a sophomore, Cazimero dazzled with 31 points, nine rebounds, six steals and three assists.
Kohala (10-0), the BIIF champion, jumped out to 34-11 lead to set up a semifinal matchup against Maui Prep at 5 p.m. Friday at Kalani.
With Koby Agbayani enduring a tough shooting night (2 of 10, four points), fellow senior La’a Kauka scored 21 points, making 8 of 13 from the field. He had five of his team’s 20 steals.
“(Koby) played awesome defense,” Kapeliela said. “He led a lot of breaks, just taking pressire off O’shen by handling the ball.”
The Cowboys harassed the Marauders (5-8) into 25 turnovers and held them to 38.1% shooting. With Cazimero making 10 of 16 from the field and 10 of 11 from the line, Kohala shot 43.8%.
Kapeliela said Kohala led by as many as 30 and was giving his starters a rest before Waipahu began to chip into the lead. Cazimero ended up playing 27 minutes.
“The role players did their job,” Kapeliela said.
Earlier at Kalani in a battle of unbeatens, Maui Prep beat Kapaa 75-50.
“They are for real. They remind me of HPA,” Kapeliela said of an opponent that will have a clear size advantage Friday. “They’re big. Every starter is over 6-feet.”
Division I
Iolani clearly showed that the gap is much wider than the Grand Canyon between the state’s best and BIIF basketball in the state quarterfinals.
The ILH runner-up Raiders hammered BIIF champion Hilo 57-31 at McKinley High’s gym on Oahu, outscoring the Vikings 21-2 in the second quarter.
J.J. Mandaquit scored 19 points, and Aaron Clayton added 11 to lead the Raiders (10-4), who led 37-9 at halftime and shot 34%, including 4 of 18 from 3-point range.
Rayson Padilla and backup Logan Querubin scored six points each to lead the Vikings (8-1), who shot 18%, including 2 of 20 from long distance.
Hilo had 20 turnovers and just thee assists and were outrebounded, 49-36.
Padilla, a senior guard, shot 2 of 12 and committed nine turnovers and had three assists.
Iolani plays Mililani in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Moanalua High.
Hilo plays Maryknoll in consolation at 7 p.m. Friday at McKinley.
On Monday, Kahuku eliminated BIIF runner-up Kamehameha 62-37 in the first round.
