A year later, the nightmare is long gone.
Aiea, which saw a big lead disappear in the 2024 OIA Division II boys basketball championship game, built a 20-point lead and beat Kaiser 54-43 on Wednesday night to secure the OIA D-II title at McKinley Student Council Gymnasium.
Noah Park scored 17 points and Shealand Kazama had 15 on 7-for-10 shooting from the field with 14 rebounds. Speedy Hiki Kim Choy Keb Ah Lo added 10 points and six steals, while center Aria Sarbeland finished with five points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
Aiea (16-7 overall) was 6-4 in the OIA West’s integrated system, losing only to D-I teams ranked in the Star-Advertiser Top 10. This is Aiea’s first OIA championship in D-II since winning back-to-back titles in 2007 and ’08 under then-coach Wyatt Tau.
The champions earned a first-round bye in next week’s HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships. Last year, it was a dream start against Kaimuki, only to end in defeat as the Bulldogs rallied to victory in the OIA final.
“After last year, we knew we wanted to win really bad. That was the motivation for us since then,” said Kazama, a 6-foot-3 senior wing.
Na Alii coach Rob Godinez has built a balanced lineup with disciplined offense and tough-nosed defense.
“We’ve learned to play through adversity. We know we have some lapses like we had to close this game, but the difference is we have a different mentality now,” he said. “We really closed the season in great shape.”
Aiea limited Kaiser’s leading score, Emmanuel Tiritas, to 4-for-9 shooting from the field. The 6-3 senior faced tough defense in the paint from a swarming Na Alii defense and finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds for Kaiser (14-10 overall). Norris Birdsong added 11 points, while William Dunbar tallied four points and nine boards.
The Cougars have five days of practice before beginning play in the state tournament. Coach Bricen McCartney, a former ‘Iolani player, is excited about the final week of the season.
“We’ve got to take this loss in and use it. This next week, we’ve got to reset and play with a sense of desperation. We played well in spurts, but it’s got to become a habit for us,” McCartney said. “We’ve grown so much from when I took over in the summer time to now. Just having an opportunity to play in this game is just big for us. They’ve taken ownership of the team.”
The Cougars struggled early with five turnovers in the first quarter against Aiea’s man-to-man defense. One of the giveaways was a steal by Kazama with 3.7 seconds left, but he missed both foul shots and Na Alii led 12-7 going into the second quarter.
Kim Choy Keb Ah Lo went coast-to-coast with a steal, opening the lead to 17-7. Kaiser called time out with 5:21 to go in the first half, but Aiea soon expanded the lead to 21-9 after Kim Choy Keb Ah Lo snatched a rebound and found Jeremiah Hill on the fast break for a layup.
Kaiser settled down, switched from man defense to a 2-3 zone, and went on an 8-0 run to close the first half. Noah Itokazu swished a corner 3 and Tiritas drove for a tough bucket in the paint as the Cougars got within 21-17 at the break.
The Cougars pulled within 23-20 on Birdsong’s straightway 3, but Aiea answered with six points in a row. An interception by Kim Choy Keb Ah Lo led to a putback by Park for a 29-20 Aiea lead.
Kaiser was 1-for-6 from the field with three turnovers during Aiea’s run. Taylor Moku’s corner 3 gave Na Alii their biggest lead, 32-20, with 4:19 left in the third quarter. After a TV timeout, Park connected with Kazama for a turnaround jumper on the baseline and it was 34-20.
Aiea stretched the lead to 44-28 early in the fourth quarter when Kazama went coast to coast after another Kaiser turnover.
The lead was up to 51-33 after a fastbreak layup by Park. Kaiser whittled the lead down to 12, then began fouling Aiea to stop the clock with one minute remaining.
Kaiser was chasing after its first league title since 2015, when Branden Kawazoe guided the Cougars to back-to-back D-II crowns.
