Second half surge helps No. 9 Kahuku pull away from Kalani

Greg Yamamoto | SL

KAHALA — The Red Raiders ended its 2023 on a winning note.

No. 9 Kahuku overcame a first half deficit and erupted in the second half to break away from Kalani, 68-53, in an OIA East clash at the Falcons' gymnasium Saturday.

A balanced scoring effort helped the Red Raiders improve to 3-0 in the OIA East standings.

Ronin Naihe scored a team-high 12 off the bench, Jens Evans and Tiki Akina-Watson each added 11. Kache Kaio netted 10, and Kash Daley chipped in nine on three 3-pointers and Kui Murphy with eight.

"Everybody showed and even our young players stepped up. Like you said, the balanced scoring, we can go inside with the best of them and our guards can do a great job scoring and hitting 3's so it's great to see the balance of the players," Kahuku coach Brandyn Akana said.

Carson Lam led all scorers with 14 points, Luke Seno had 12 before fouling out in the fourth, and Dylan Kobayashi added 10 off three 3-pointers for the Falcons, who dropped to 1-2 in the OIA East.

"We have to start games better, especially at a place like this. Kalani, they play tough and they play hard. They always play hard. It was good for us to experience it," Akana said.

Kobayashi and Daley traded 3-pointers in the second quarter before trading buckets from the free throw line. Seno hit all four of his free throw attempts to help the Falcons go up by five.

Akina-Watson hit a 3-pointer off a kick out pass to cut into the Kalani lead. Lam nailed four free throws that included a technical foul called on coach Akana to help the Falcons go up, 34-28 going into halftime.

The Falcons went to the free throw line and sank eight of their 12 attempts in the second quarter.

"We had a little adversity. I think we couldn't get going on defense and on offense. In the second half, I told them to settle down and take the second half and they did. Defensively we made some big stops and offensively we ran our motion and got wide open looks," Akana said.

The Red Raiders responded and opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run after Daley splashed a 3-pointer off Kaio's kick out to reclaim the lead, 35-34.

"We played some good team ball, drive and kick. We did a heck of a job in the second half," Akana said.

Kaio battled foul trouble and picked up his fourth personal after he and Kai Bogle-Dupuis were called for offsetting technicals. Murphy provided an offensive spark off the bench to score five of his points in the quarter and converted a 3-point play and hit a jumper in the paint.

"He got some easy buckets and good offensive rebounds, we have nine to 10 players that can go," Akana said.

Kahler Vendiola and Kobayashi traded 3-pointers before Evans spun and got to the rim to give Kahuku a 47-41 lead going into the fourth.

The Red Raiders got to the free throw line 15 times and made 10 in the final period and pulled away for good by outscoring the Falcons, 16 to nine in the final five minutes.

Kahuku finished 20 for 37 (54 percent) from the free throw line while Kalani made 12 of their 23 attempts (52 percent).

Kahuku hosts Farrington (0-3 OIA) on Jan. 3 while Kalani goes to No. 3 Kailua (2-0 OIA) on the same night.

Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].