Moanalua beats Kamehameha, 42-34, for Alegre title


Eliet Donley scored 12 points and Moanalua took down Kamehameha, 42-34, Saturday to win the championship of the 14th annual James Alegre Basketball Invitational at Jim Alegre Gymnasium.

Na Menehune (5-0), an Oahu Interscholastic Association Red contender, beat an Interscholastic League of Honolulu contender for the second day in a row. They beat defending Division I state champion Punahou in the tourney's semifinals.

"What really made the game for us is how we handled them on the perimeter, defensively," Moanalua coach Greg Tacon said. "Even though they got shot attempts, they really had to do a lot of things to get those shot attempts. I thought we did a pretty good job of closing out on those shooters. And rebounding. If someone's going to shoot 3s on you, you have to keep it to one possession, that extra possession off a rebound. We did a good job of that."

Kamehameha led early until Donley's 3-pointer with 50 seconds left in the first quarter put Moanalua ahead. He later added a free throw to open Moanalua's lead to 10-7, only to watch Elijah Leslie drain a 3 just before the quarter ended to tie the game at 10.

The Warriors again took a lead with about a minute left in the half when Makana Harrison scored from top of the key after a second offensive rebound. But Moanalua snatched the lead back with 40 seconds left in the half on Antoine Hines' 3-pointer.

Jamaal Wills' 3-pointer ignited an 8-0 run to start the second half for Moanalua, which then took a 33-25 lead into the fourth quarter.

Moanalua continued to take control of the second half, extending its lead to by as many as 11 points with 1:09 left. Kamehameha ended the game on Noa Kinimaka's second 3-pointer of the game.

"I was concerned on the defensive end (of court)," Kamehameha coach Julian Nakanishi said. "Rotation's not there, guys not knowing the system. We have to get more practice reps in that. We'll get better with time."

Kamehameha still has a lot of quality tuneups before the ILH Division I season starts. It opens the Moanalua tournament this week against another OIA Red East contender in Kahuku.

The Warriors were without 6-foot-4 guard Makoa Camanse-Stevens for the second game in a row after his 18-point and four 3-pointer performance against Leilehua in the tournament opening round. He sustained an ankle sprain in that game, Also, 6-2 guard Kason Smith-Bejgrowicz was out because he had been sick and missed classes on Friday, Nakanishi said.



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].