Antoine Hines hit three straight baskets in transition to start overtime and Moanalua escaped Kahuku with a 53-42 win over the Red Raiders on Friday night.
After scrapping for something on every possession in regulation, Moanalua scored on all nine of its possessions in overtime.
"What I love about these guys is that when the game is on the line and things need to be done, they respond," Moanalua coach Byron Mello said. "The hard part is that they are so hard on themselves that we tend to fracture, but we are getting so much better and moving in the right direction."
Na Menehune shrugged off a 6-for-21 day from the line to finish 11-for-31. No. 10 Kahuku committed 28 turnovers, five of them in overtime after point guard Chance Maghanoy fouled out.
Moanalua ran out to a six-point lead with 2:16 left in the third, but Kahuku battled back to tie it early in the fourth. The lead changed hands five times after that, and Aaron Stuart gave Na Menehune a 40-39 lead with 45 seconds left, but Kahuku’s Hirkley Latu tied it with the second of two free throws with 32.5 seconds left. Moanalua put the ball in Hines’ hands on the final play and he drove the lane against Latu and got a good look on a jumper from the middle of the paint. But he missed with 4.3 seconds left. Kahuku had two chances to score on inbounds plays but turned it over both times.
Then Moanalua smacked the Red Raiders in the face with the three baskets off turnovers in 41 seconds of overtime. Jamaal Willis added another one 19 seconds later to run Moanalua’s lead to 48-40 with 2:06 left.
"We just got in the huddle and were like, we can’t let them score," Hines said. "We knew we had to create turnovers and get easy buckets. We are a hard team to stop in transition, we got those steals and we could get out and run."
Hines led all scorers with 20 points, Stuart added 12 and Willis tallied 11.
Latu led Kahuku with 16 points, six of them in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Kahuku (3-3) has been on a roller coaster this season, losing to Kaiser in overtime and coming back to beat Kaimuki and McKinley (in overtime) before losing 58-49 to Kailua. This loss is just another bump in the road.
"We didn’t put it together, that’s all," Kahuku coach Darren Johnson said. "We thought we were right there. We actually played good D, (Hines) just had three good penetrations at the right time."
Kahuku gets a breather against winless Anuenue on Thursday, while Moanalua (5-1) takes a five-game winning streak home to play host to No. 4 Farrington the same day.
"Kahuku is a beautiful place, but if I never see this gym again it will be too soon," Mello said. "This is a tough place to play and they have a tough team. I shudder to think what these guys are going to be like next year or two years down the road."
| Moanalua (5-1) |
9 |
13 |
10 |
8 |
13 |
— |
53 |
| Kahuku (3-3) |
10 |
10 |
8 |
12 |
2 |
— |
42 |
MOANALUA–Elo Badua 3, Alijohn Bumanglag 2, Eric Miyauchi 0, Jacob Matayoshi 0, Jamaal Willis 11, Antoine Hines 20, Zach Puulei 0, Charles Johnson-Maverick 3, Karson Cruz 2, Donald Lambert 0, Jordan Williams 1, Aaron Stuart 12.
KAHUKU–Keanu Akina 0, Chance Maghanoy 0, Huleia Naeole 2, Wilton Cravens 4, Kesi Ah Hoy 2, Soli Afalava 9, Hirkley Latu 16, Samuta Avea 8, Tuli Wily-Matagi 2.
3-point goals–Moanalua 2 (Hines, Willis). Kahuku 2 (Avea 2).
Junior varsity–Kahuku 44, Moanalua 36
