A big performance by their leader just wasn’t enough.
Despite 26 points from O’Shen Cazimero, the Kohala Cowboys fell to Maui Prep Academy 65-46 in their HHSAA DivisionII Semifinal contest Friday night at Kalani High School. The Cowboys had a rough shooting night, hitting just 11.5% of their 26 3-pointers on the game, including a 1 for 17 stretch in the second half.
The Owls, by comparison, could hardly miss. While Maui Prep Academy took six less shots than Kohala, they made a staggering 63.6% of their shots, taking the lead early. Maui Prep led 21-10 at the end of the first quarter, and extended their lead by outscoring the Cowboys in every quarter of play. Four Owls reached double figures on the scoreboard, led by Drew Triplett’s 24 points.
Behind Cazimero’s 26 points, Kohala was led by Laakea Kauka with 12 points, Koby Agbayani with 6 points and Onipaa Tavares-Matsuda with one point.
Kohala (10-1) now looks for a quick rebound from their first loss of the season. They’ll square off against the Eagles of Hawaii Baptist (14-4) Saturday afternoon in the HHSAA D-II 3rd place game. Tip time at the Neal Blaisdell Center is scheduled for 3 p.m.
In a consolation match, Maryknoll beat Hilo 53-29.
Soccer
Leila Kahoano broke a tie in the 27th minute as top-seeded Kamehameha-Kapalama beat Waiakea 3-1 to reach the Division I tournament title game at Oahu’s Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.
BIIF teams fell to 0-4 all-time in the semifinals.
Kaitlin Beatty scored for the BIIF champion Warriors (6-3) to answer Keely Kahana’s early goal for Kapalama.
Waiakea will face Mililani on Saturday in the third-place match.
In consolation play, Kryslynn Nabarro got Hilo on the scoreboard with an early goal, but King Kekaulike came back for a 4-1 victory.
Division II
Coral Turner’s goal in the 14th minute stoop up for top-seeded Kauai, which beat BIIF champion Kamehameha 1-0 in the semifinals.
The Warriors play Pac-5 in consolation play Saturday.