Amari Westmoreland-Vendiola scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half as seventh-ranked Kahuku posted a tough 53-42 road win over Kalani on Wednesday.
The 6-foot-3 senior also hustled for 11 rebounds, nine of them on the offensive glass.
Kahuku improved to 2-0 in OIA East play. Kalani, which opened the regular season with a 51-26 win over Farrington last week, dropped to 1-1.
Guard Aiken Naihe added nine points and football standout Leonard Ah You provided a jolt in the paint with six points and eight rebounds for Kahuku. Point guard Daniel Kealoha Kaio had two points and seven rebounds, all in the first half. Kaio helped provide consistency against Kalani’s pressure defenses.
“That’s typical Kalani. They’re going to come out and pressure us, maybe we make bad passes. Of course, they sat in a zone so we had to kind of adapt to that,” Kahuku coach Brandyn Akana said. “We made runs and we allowed them to come back. We did fine. We could’ve done better, but we’ll take it. It’s a win in the OIA.”
The Division II Falcons, who have some strong, skilled post players, had their opportunity.
“Kahuku’s a wonderful team. I think their defense is awesome. We had some problems. I wish we had hit our free throws. That would’ve been nice,” Kalani coach Noa Hussey said. “We tried to be aggressive and drive on them, and I think it worked a little, but we missed a ton of free throws. Let’s not take anything away from them. Their defense is awesome and they pounded us on the boards.”
Kalani shot 6-for-16 at the foul line.
Jacob Shibuya scored 14 points and Kysen Nagano had 10 of his 12 points in the final quarter to spark Kalani’s rally. The Falcons trailed 39-22 with 3 minutes remaining, but brought the margin all the way down to 44-38 before succumbing.
“It was a physical game. It was fun for us, especially our football boys. It was physical out there,” Westmoreland-Vendiola said.
Westmoreland-Vendiola had just one shot attempt in the opening quarter against a smart, physical Kalani defense.
Kahuku led 9-6 entering the second quarter. Kalani tied the game at 10 on a tough jump shot in the paint by Shibuya.
The visitors responded with an 8-0 run. Reserve wing Ben Holakeituai’s runner off the glass opened Kahuku’s lead to 18-10.
Kahuku led 20-13 at the break and its smothering man-to-man defense limited Kalani to just nine field-goal attempts in the third quarter. The Falcons got within 20-16 after a 3 by Shibuya, but Kahuku’s quick transition offense went to work. After Westmoreland-Vendiola hit two free throws, he fed Lesu Damuni on a fastbreak for a bucket. Naihe and Westmoreland-Vendiola hustled for putbacks and Kahuku opened the lead to 36-22 by the end of the third quarter.
Westmoreland-Vendiola’s old-fashioned three-point play at the rim extended Kahuku’s lead to 17 early in the fourth quarter.
Then came the Falcon run. Nagano splashed two 3-pointers while bigs Wakea Kanahele and Jonah Tavalupe sealed off the paint. After Kyson Kobayashi drove for a fastbreak basket, Kalani was within 44-38 with 1:50 remaining.
Westmoreland-Vendiola, off to the races with 14 fourth-quarter points, scored Kahuku’s final seven points as Kalani got no closer.
