Top Performers
Damuni, Brost keyed big wins for Kahuku, HPA




Male Athlete of the Week: Marcus Damuni, Kahuku
After a couple of years in the shadows, it's Marcus Damuni's time to shine for the Kahuku boys basketball team.

The 6-foot-3 senior center and third-year varsity player has gone from being a role player as a sophomore to "the guy" this season. Damuni netted his eighth double-digit scoring game last Thursday with a game-high 19 points in the Red Raiders' 52-42 win at Kalaheo to close out the regular season.

"He played really well," Kahuku coach Brandyn Akana said. "He was our go-to guy and he really controlled the middle on defense and also on offense and those guys couldn't stop him in the post."

The Red Raiders trailed by a bucket after the opening quarter, but as Damuni got hot in the second stanza, so did they, outscoring the Mustangs 14-2 in the period.

"The first quarter he kind of struggled — we all did as a team — and then we had a big second quarter and he was a big part of that and then the third quarter he did well again. He took people off the dribble. He was just a monster in the post," Akana said.

Akana noted his favorite part of Damuni's game is that the big man is effective both offensively and defensively.

"Rebounding has been Marcus's skill since his sophomore year; he's always been a great rebounder. He has a great nose for the ball, great timing, but he does it on both ends and a lot of bigs either do it on the offensive side, but not the defensive side, but he does it on both sides and as a coach you always love that because he can rebound, he plays hard defense, he gets great positioning and offensively he can score. He's a guy who can get 25 (points) a night," Akana said.

Damuni is averaging a team-best 12.8 points per game in Oahu Interscholastic Association East play. His 19-point effort against Kalaheo matched his season-high and came two days after being held to nine points in a 63-51 loss to then-No. 8 Moanalua, which snapped the Red Raiders' six-game win streak.

"He did have a tough one that night," Akana said of last Tuesday's defeat at Na Menehune's home gym. "He didn't start off well. I think he also got into foul trouble, his he never got into a rhythm, and Moanalua has good bigs, but it was great to see him bounce back (against Kalaheo). He's one of our captains and a lot of the young guys look up to him, so for him to do that was great to see."

As a sophomore during the 2016-'17 season, Damuni contributed off the bench as Kahuku captured the Division I state championship. Last year — his first as a starter — Damuni served as a complementary piece in the post to All-Hawaii D1 Player of the Year Tolu Smith.

"He's just been around for a long time and so he's very experienced. He got a lot of playing time as a sophomore. Last year he played alongside Tolu and so whereas Tolu got a lot of the attention, Marcus did a lot of the dirty work. Tolu was Tolu and Marcus could have stepped into that role, but when you have a guy like Tolu, you're the second man in the post, you get all the weak side rebounds when they're doubling Tolu, you get wide open shots, so he did really good last year," Akana said of Damuni, who now weighs about 225 pounds. "It was a given that when Tolu graduated, that it was gonna be Marcus's time and he was gonna be the next post player for us, so he just brings all of that experience and he's a lot bigger now and smarter and he's one of those skilled bigs where he's very consistent and just solid. He's been doing really well for us."

Damuni also excels on the gridiron, where he lines up at defensive end or outside linebacker for the Red Raiders in the fall. Akana said Damuni is currently mulling scholarship offers from several schools to continue playing football.

"He loves basketball, but football is gonna be his sport at the next level," Akana said. "He's just a leader. He's quiet, not a loud kid. He just shows up to practice, goes to work and leads by example to all of our younger players. He's an older kid, so he's very mature and soft-spoken."

The win over the Mustangs secured the OIA East's third seed in this week's 12-team Division I league tournament.

"If we had lost, it would have been us, Kalani, Roosevelt and Kalaheo all tied. We beat Roosevelt and Kalani, but lost to Kalaheo, so that was a big win and it was on their court and at their senior night, so I mean, any time you can beat somebody at home — especially at Kalaheo, where there is so much basketball history there — if you can beat them on senior night, that's huge," Akana said.

The Red Raiders (8-4 league, 18-8 overall) opened the playoffs with a 49-36 win over West sixth seed Pearl City Tuesday night and will visit West second-seeded Mililani at 6 p.m. Wednesday in a quarterfinal-round game with a state-tournament berth on the line.


Female Athlete of the Week: Malia Brost, Hawaii Prep
Malia Brost closed out her sophomore season with a bang for the Hawaii Prep girls soccer team over the weekend.

The 5-foot-5 sophomore scored five goals in four games for Ka Makani at the Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA Division II State Championships at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex last week, which culminated in the program's sixth consecutive state crown Saturday night.

Brost, a second-year starter and center-midfielder, opened the tournament with a goal in Wednesday's 8-0 rout of Waialua. Two days later, she found the back of the net again in a 3-0 semifinal victory over second-seeded Kauai. But Brost saved her best for last, netting her second hat trick of the season in Saturday night's 4-0 win over Big Island Interscholastic Federation rival Kamehameha-Hawaii in the title game.

"She just had a golden foot going on," HPA coach Steve Perry said. "I was looking back at the (TV) replay and seeing the three shots she put in, I mean, the first and third ones were just perfect — upper 90 with pace, they weren't just lobs, they had some pace on it — and we try to utilize her on that corner as much as we can with her inside foot."

Ka Makani did all of their scoring against the Warriors in the first half. Brost scored in the sixth, 39th and 40th minutes for her 15th, 16th and 17th goals of the season. She was selected by the media and HHSAA staff as co-Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, which she shared with teammate and fellow center-mid, Jenna Perry.

"Aside from the goals, she just did a lot in the middle. She really slowed down the (Warriors') attack with Jenna — getting good tackles, being strong on the ball always — and they just slowed down any attack that the other team wanted to go with," Steve Perry said.

Steve Perry said the duo of Brost and his daughter, Jenna, in the middle of the field has served his team well this season.

"Malia covers a lot of the field in the center. If it is a dead-ball situation and a set piece, we'll put her out wherever. She takes all our free kicks on the right side of the field and Jenna takes all our free kicks on the left side of the field."

As a freshman Brost was the starter at the left outside-back position, but moved to center-mid prior to the start of this season.

"Both of our outside-backs last year were both freshmen and both moved to the midfield this year, where we lost Jordan Zarate last year to graduation," Steve Perry explained. "Malia moved in and she seemed to jell with Jenna right from the start in the middle. They enjoy working together, they have that chemistry — Malia has that left foot, Jenna has the right foot — so it seemed like a good mix."

"I think she's played some in her club a little bit, she seems to be somebody I can put her anywhere, i think last year we threw her up top at times, she's just so athletic, i think she could handle any change needed."

Perry added that Brost can really fill in at any position, if necessary.

"I think she's somebody we can put anywhere on the field and she will find a way to excel. Early on in the year I think she even filled in at center-back when we lost a player early on, just to finish a game, and so I feel pretty comfortable with her wherever we put her out there," Perry said.

While Perry raves about Brost's powerful left foot, he also pointed out that she is quite adept at ball control as well.

"Being quote-unquote a powerful player because she's got such a strong leg, her touch on the ball gets overlooked probably," he said. "Her first touch is pretty solid, and she can always work on it, but I think she controls the ball out of the air well. She's not afraid to head the ball when it's in the air and probably with any strong player, their touch gets overlooked and she definitely has that."

Brost's immediate impact as a freshman, and her continued improvement through her sophomore season comes as no surprise to Perry.

"She's worked at it. She likes to use the leg — she knows she has one — but she works at it, too. She doesn't assume it's gonna be on; she works at it in practice and it's always nice when you see the execution after the hard work," Perry said. "I think it's great for Malia. I'm happy for her how she finished her season and it should be a great boost into her confidence going into her junior year, which I'm excited about."

To be sure, Perry is ecstatic that he will have Brost on his side for two more seasons.

"The nice thing about it is she always has a great attitude out there. She smiles a lot, which is a wonderful thing in crunch time, and she's a competitor and you always hope your team is full of competitors," Perry said. "Once that whistle blows she doesn't like to lose. She works hard with a great attitude, so that's a great combination to have, especially as a sophomore."

HPA finished the year with a 17-2-1 record and outscored its four state-tournament opponents by a combined margin of 18 to zero. Saturday's win over Kamehameha-Hawaii was the fourth meeting between the teams this season. Ka Makani won three of those, but lost to the Warriors in overtime, 3-2, in the BIIF title game just 10 days prior.

"I think we just took advantage of our opportunities in this game," Perry said. "We converted them, versus in the league final we had a couple chances and didn't convert, but (KS-Hawaii) finished. They had two opportunities late and they definitely took advantage of it, so this time around we wanted to make sure we separated ourselves and didn't leave it until the last minute."

BOYS BASKETBALL
Andre Adams, Lanai — Scored 21 points in a loss to Seabury Hall

Conner Brown, Parker — Scored 21 points in a loss to Keaau

Riley Brunel, Le Jardin — Scored 19 points in a loss to Iolani II

O'Shen Cazimero, Kohala — Scored 19 points in a win over Konawaena

Mario Drummer, Kaiser — Scored 21 points in a loss to Roosevelt

Kukilakila Kahalekai, Nanakuli — Scored 20 points in a win over Radford

Devrene Kahananui Alejado, Lanai — Scored 28 points in a loss to Seabury Hall

Kila Kamakawiwoole, Saint Louis II — Scored 21 points in a loss to Hawaii Baptist

Masyn Johnson, Seabury Hall — Scored 18 points in a win over Lanai

Isaiah Lee, Kalani — Scored 21 points in a win over Kailua

Patrick Mears, Keaau — Scored 22 points in a loss to Pahoa

Koby Moananu, Kaimuki — Scored 20 points in a loss to Roosevelt

Kameron Ng, Saint Francis — Scored 25 points in a win over Kamehameha and scored 40 points in a win over Mid-Pacific

Reece Pascua, Lahainaluna — Scored 26 points in a win over Baldwin

Jalin Rachlin, Iolani II — Scored 19 points in a loss to Punahou II

Geremy Robinson, Moanalua — Scored 18 points in a win over Kahuku

Damon Romero, Pahoa — Scored 26 points in a win over Keaau

Ty Shishido, Roosevelt — Scored 19 points in a win over Kaiser

Isaiah Sugiura, Moanalua — Scored 18 points in a win over Kahuku

Christmas Togiai, Kamehameha — Scored 21 points in a loss to Saint Francis

Everett Torres-Kahapea, Kailua — Scored 22 points in a loss to Kalani

Max Wiemken, Hawaii Baptist — Scored 35 points in a win over Hanalani


GIRLS BASKETBALL
Jahyah Casem, Kapaa — Scored 24 points in a loss to Waimea

Kierstin Gummerus, Waimea — Scored 32 points in a win over Kapaa

Susitina Namoa, Lahainaluna — Scored 31 points in a win over Baldwin and scored 18 points in a win over Maui

Honey Let Padasdao, Maui — Scored 20 points, including 13-of-14 shooting on free throws, in a win over King Kekaulike

Kaye Serapio, Waimea — Scored 17 points in a win over Kapaa


BOYS SOCCER
Jonathan DeMotta, Kamehameha-Hawaii — Scored two goals in a win over Makua Lani

Kanai Eckhart, Kamehameha-Hawaii — Scored two goals and assisted on another in a win over Kohala

Jake Schneider, Hawaii Prep — Scored two goals in a win over Waiakea


GIRLS SOCCER
Christiann Arakawa, Sacred Hearts — Scored the lone goal in a win over Leilehua

Teani Arakawa, Kekaulike — Scored two goals in a win over Pearl City

Kaleonahe Bukoski, Kauai — Scored two goals in a win over Kapaa

Angela Cipriano, Hawaii Prep — Scored two goals in a win over PAC-5

Jourdyn Curran, Campbell — Scored the lone goal in a win over Kamehameha-Maui

Evan Elsasser, Seabury Hall — Scored two goals in a win over Waianae

Leah Feato, Kamehameha — Scored the lone goal in a win over Campbell

Maya Hagiwara, Kamehameha — Scored three goals in a win over Mililani

Dina Hayes, Kapaa — Scored two goals in a win over Seabury Hall and scored the lone goal in a win over Kalaheo

Emi Higgins, Hawaii Prep — Scored two goals in a win over Waialua

Cecilia Jenkins, Mililani — Scored two goals in a win over Hilo

Kalia Kalua, Kamehameha — Scored three goals and assisted on another in a win over Kekaulike

Shaelyn Kam, Kalaheo — Scored four goals in a win over Sacred Hearts

Tia Lurbiecki, Makua Lani — Scored the lone goal in a win over Waianae

Kalena Pfaeltzer, Seabury Hall — Scored two goals in a win over Leilehua and scored two goals in a win over Waianae

Bella Police, Hawaii Prep — Scored three goals in a win over Waialua

Melina Ramirez, Konawaena — Scored the lone goal in a win over Kekaulike

Tare Rillon, PAC-5 — Scored three goals in a win over Kalaheo

Mia Takekuma, Kauai — Scored two goals in a win over Makua Lani

Kehela Ventura, Kauai — Scored three goals in a win over Makua Lani

Nanea Wong-Yuen, Kamehameha-Hawaii — Scored the lone goal in a win over Sacred Hearts



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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