Kahuku cashes in from long distance to down Kamehameha-Maui

Kahuku's Kash Daley (10) attempts a three-point shot in the second half against the Warriors in the first round of the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Division I Boys Basketball Championships at Kamehameha-Maui's Ka‘ulaheanuiokamoku Gymnasium. CJ Caraang | SL

Call him Young Money.

Freshman Kash Daley came off the bench to hit six three pointers and scored a season-high 20 points to help lead Kahuku to a 53-42 win over Kamehameha-Maui in the opening round of the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Division I Boys Basketball Championshps.

"My teammates gave me some really good looks on the drive and kick that just got me open," said Daley. "So I just do what I practice and it just went in."

Daley's six triples were the most recorded in a Division I state tournament game since Honokaa's Derek Gabriel in 2000.

Kahuku started off the game trailing early but took the lead off a three by Jens Evans and saw that margin stretch to six as Daley knocked down three consecutive triples to make it a 14-8 contest to open the second quarter.

Even with Daley's hot shooting, Kamehameha-Maui rallied behind the scoring prowess of Dylan Schnitzer who accounted for nine points in the second alone, including a layup to close out the half and push the Warriors into the lead at 23-22.

"The first half we struggled offensively and it was tough on defense, we kept giving up rebounds, so making those shots helped to keep us going and keep us in it," said Daley.

Daley knocked down five shots from long range in the first half alone, his fifth marking the last basket of the half for the Raiders.

The third quarter opened with Kahuku once again dialing it up from long range, as Kahler Vendiola's hit pushed the Red Raiders back into the lead at 25-23, the Warriors see-sawed back ahead on Kanekoa Maielua-Kekiwi's only basket of the game to pull back ahead, 28-27.

From there, Kahuku resumed the lead on a layup by Tiki Akina-Watson, the first of three breakaway baskets by the sophomore guard that extended the Red Raiders to a 33-28 advantage.

"You really don't who going to make all the shots on a given night," said Daley of Akina-Watson, who scored 10 points in the contest, "It makes us really dangerous because you really don't know who's going to hit."

Kache Kaio scored the final points of the third to make it 35-32, and the Raiders scored the first four points of the fourth to make it 39-32. Kaio, who finished with seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds, and his presence in the low post on both ends of the floor was definitely a factor.

"He didn't score a lot but he did really good today, boxed out and got a lot of second chance shots for us, it was really important," Daley said of Kaio.

Schnitzer's three pulled the Warriors to within four at 39-35 at the 6:27 mark, but three number six by Daley and number two from Vendiola pushed the margin to double digits with 2:55 to go.

In total, the Red Raiders knocked down nine of 19 three pointers in the game, compared to just two of 15 for the home team.

Schnitzer finished with a game-high 23 points, his third straight game scoring 20 points or more.

"We knew he was one of their shooters, so we put our best defender, Jens, on him but it was tough," said Daley of Schnitzer. "He quick and he could get to the middle so tried all help to try and stop him."

Up next for the Red Raiders is a matchup with OIA champ Leilehua Thursday.