LeCedric Brown poured in 22 points and Roman Gabriel pumped in 17 as eighth-ranked Mililani stymied Kaimuki 86-64 in the opening round of the OIA boys basketball playoffs at the Trojans’ gym.
Mililani (18-5 overall) will play at No. 7 Kahuku in the quarterfinal round tonight. Tip-off is 6 p.m.
“They played really hard. We knew they weren’t going to back down. Coach always (says) all the time, no one’s going to back down to us,” Brown said.
The 6-foot-2 senior guard shot 7-for-11 from the field.
“We’ve watched lots of film of Kahuku. We know we have to come out and play our best because they’re not going to back down either,” Brown added.
Sophomore Tui Tukimaka drained four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points for Mililani. Senior point guard Ezekiel Virtudes crafted another stellar performance as the floor general with four points and eight assists. Kaimuki’s non-stop, fullcourt pressure kept the Trojans busy all night.
“At first, we had to adjust. Kaimuki’s a really scrappy team. They have a lot of heart,” Virtudes said. “No one wants to go home, especially in the first round. We knew they were going to bring the intensity and we had to match it. It’s rewarding to see your teammates score on your passes.”
The teams met on Dec. 13 at the Kaimuki Invitational, when Mililani prevailed 69-46. After struggling through most of the season with injuries, the Bulldogs were fairly healthy on Tuesday and got balanced scoring. ManDuy Pham led Kaimuki (2-19 overall) with 11 points, while Regan Fritz-Betiru and Russel Kinere added 10 each. Aiden Hubbard scored nine points off the bench, all in the second half.
“Mililani is a great team,” Kaimuki coach Greydon Espinda said. “Unfortunately, the whole season we were plagued with injuries. At one point we had only six kids who could play. We showed up and we tried our best. We didn’t always have the consistency of making it to practice, staying healthy and just being able to play. We just made the best of it.”
Mililani coach Garrett Gabriel rested his starters for significant stints, and emptied its bench late in the game. The Trojans finished with 20 turnovers, though eight were in the final quarter.
“Our goal was to try and try to tire them out, just play 94 feet of basketball,” Espinda said. “We’ve only got three seniors, so we’ll be OK next year as long as we keep everybody eligible and healthy.”
Platooning five in and five out all night, Kaimuki kept it interesting. Center Samuel Mulitalo, a 6-foot-4 junior, scored in the post against the smaller Trojans as Kaimuki took its only lead, 5-3, in the opening minutes.
Tukimaka heated up with three consecutive treys. Gabriel sparked Mililani’s 20-3 run with two offensive boards and three assists. The home team led 25-10 going into the second quarter. Kaimuki had 10 of its 20 turnovers in the opening quarter.
“We had a little break, eight or nine days, so we put a lot of work into those days,” Roman Gabriel said. “Credit to Kaimuki. Playoff basketball, you can’t really look at records. Records go out the window when it comes to playoff time. We’re just glad we got the win and advance to tomorrow’s game.”
Kaimuki pulled within eight points on a corner 3 by Thong Lam, a steal and layup by Kinere, and a bank shot by Pham.
Mililani then went on an 18-5 run as Brown finished in transition against the press, scoring 11 points in the second quarter.
Down 43-22, Kaimuki made up some ground with a 12-4 run before the half. Fritz-Betiru scored on a hangtime reverse layup, Pham deflected a pass and fed the ball to Zechariah Kuratsu-Cook for a layup, and Pham scored on another steal, cutting the lead to 47-34.
The visiting Bulldogs got no closer than 11 the rest of the way.
