The power shift is official in the OIA West.
Sixth-ranked Mililani contained Campbell gunner Miles Hornage en route to a 62-39 rout on Saturday at the Sabers’ gym. The Trojans improved to 2-0 in the West (11-4 overall) behind a balanced offensive attack and stifling man-to-man defense. Roman Gabriel led Mililani with 21 points. LeCedric Brown added 11 points and center Lauvai Pine tallied 10.
“Our chemistry, finding out our roles, who’s playing bigger roles,” Gabriel said. “Just gaining chemistry, working on our set plays and good defense all around.”
Mililani used athleticism and length to pester Hornage. Coach Garrett Gabriel and staff deployed 6-foot-2 Roman Gabriel, 6-2 Davyn Joseph and 6-7 Timothy Dorn on the Sabers’ top scorer. Hornage finished with 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting against sticky, bruising defense.
Even when he wasn’t assigned to cover Hornage, Dorn was in the neighborhood.
“Just get into him. Make it physical, match my energy. If you can speed him up, it’s good,” Dorn said. “His spin move, he didn’t do it tonight. Once I figured that out, I sat on it.”
A lot of weight is on Hornage’s shoulders, but coach Wyatt Tau believes he will evolve as a scorer and playmaker.
“It’s a tough one. Miles can do a lot. We’re asking him to do a little more, put his body in a better position to get and-1s. I think a lot of his points can come from the free-throw line, but he always likes to fade away at the end, and that’s how guys like Tim can get blocks on him,” Tau said.
Campbell, which lost to No. 8 Leilehua 73-55 on Thursday, dropped to 0-2 in the West. There’s plenty of regular-season action ahead, and six of the seven West teams will qualify for the playoffs. That gives rebuilding teams like Campbell time to find their footing.
“Those two teams, after playing them, it’s a big difference playing them from last year to now. They’ve got more speed. They’re more lengthy and they’re in better shape now,” Tau said. “We’ve got to prep ourselves to see if we can get the third or fourth seed. We’ve got a tough game Wednesday against Kapolei.”
Gabriel connected on back-to-back left-wing 3s and added a 2 as Mililani went on a 10-0 run for a 20-10 lead before the end of the first quarter. The Trojans scored the first four points of the second quarter, piling up 14 unanswered points for a 24-10 lead.
Brown’s steal and breakaway layup opened the lead to 19 points with 20 seconds left in the half. After a missed layup by the Sabers, Gabriel splashed a pull-up 3 from 27 feet out at the buzzer. The visitors led at the half, 36-14.
Campbell struggled defensively, racking up fouls aplenty. Mililani was in the bonus halfway through the third quarter — the team limit this year was changed to five per quarter — and shot 7-for-10 at the charity stripe.
It was senior night for one Campbell Saber, Tito Ringor, an elite defensive lineman with a 3.7 grade-point average. He is graduating early to enroll at Idaho. The Sabers feted him after the game, adorning him with lei that rose nearly above his head.
“I’m going out for spring ball,” he said. “I’m going to miss my family and home. There’s no place like home. For our team, my message is keep your head up, don’t fall to adversity and ball up.”
Kamehameha Winter Invitational
Kamehameha-Hawaii 59, South Delta (B.C.) 45
>> KSH: Kawohi Huihui 23. SD: Joshua Margharitis 20.
No. 1 Maryknoll 59, San Marcos (Calif.) 40
>> MS: Hunter Marumoto 18 (3 treys), Zion Milare 17 (3 treys), Rome Lilio 13. SM: Richie Ramirez 11.
No. 9 Kamehameha 58, Bulls College Prep (Chicago) 40
>> KS: Shyne Salvador 10. Bulls: Jalen James 14.
Final records: Maryknoll (3-0), Kamehameha (3-0), KS-Hawaii (2-1), San Marcos (Calif.) (2-2), Chicago Bulls Coll. Prep (1-3), South Delta (B.C.) (0-4).
