Wong, Kohala topples De La Salle to advance to Classic quarters

Harley Simon | ScoringLive/Special to SL

The Iolani Classic stands as one of the premier stages in the boys basketball season. Tonight, freshman guard James Wong took advantage of his time in the spotlight.

It seemed every time the Cowboys needed a basket, Wong answered the call with a bomb from deep. When the defense stepped up in the second half, Wong slipped by his defenders and finished among De La Salle bigs that towered over him for crafty bucket after crafty bucket.

It seemed like for much of tonight, it was Wong's World, and we were all just living in it.

"As a shooter you always have to feel like you're in the zone, you have to shoot with confidence. That's the only way you can win," Wong said.

Of course, two-time state champion Layden Kauka was still the engine of this Kohala offense that was firing on all cylinders from the opening tip.

In fact, it was a Kauka to Wong connection that earned Kohala their first three points of the game, and from there, the duo never looked back. Wong ended the night with a stunning 27-point performance, 18 of those coming from behind the arc as he shot 6/10 from three. Kauka followed closely behind, posting 25 points, 7 assists, and 5 steals in the statement victory.

"Oh you know Layden. Layden's special, and he draws a lot of attention, and when that happens we expect James and Dillion to knock down shots…now, are you going to double him, or are you going to leave James open?" Kohala Head Coach Kiehi Kapeliela said.

The De La Salle Meteors made the trip from Chicago, and like most teams who hail from the continent, they dwarfed Kohala in size. For the entirety of the game, the Meteors played lineups with at least four players 6'2 and above.

Senior shooting guard Carlos Cueva stood out in particular, taking and making high-difficulty movement three-point shots throughout the contest. He led the Meteors in scoring with 16 points while pouring in five three-pointers.

Outside of Cueva, scoring was tough to come by for the Meteors, entirely thanks to the masterclass on team defense displayed by Kohala. It was clear that De La Salle's identity rested in the paint, as much of their half-court sets consisted of their bruising forwards barreling towards the rim on dribble penetration attempts.

Each time they drove, however, the Cowboys were there to beat them to the spot. Every Kohala player was willing and capable of flying across the court, stonewalling their own man at the point of attack, and rotating to the next man if the ball was kicked out.

"We play team basketball, we do plenty of helping. We don't do too much one-on-one. We do a lot of help, weakside help, and all that because we're so small…nothing changes in the game plan," Coach Kapeliela said.

Indeed, after leading 16-15 at the conclusion of the first quarter, De La Salle was stifled in the second. The Meteors could only muster up 11 points in the second period, while Kohala capitalized and took a 39-27 lead behind a combined 17 points from Kauka and Wong—a lead Kohala would never give up.

De La Salle forward Chaden Harvey's 13 second-half points drew the Meteors as close as five points at times, but a deep three from Wong to put Kohala up 14 with five minutes left, and key free throw shooting from Kauka down the stretch saw the Cowboys start their Iolani Classic off with a win without too much trouble.

"They probably came into the gym thinking that we were undersized, that we didn't have any heart. But we have a big heart, we have a big family, and have a big community surrounding us," Wong said.

The Cowboys play next on Thursday, December 18th, at 5 p.m., and will face off against Owyhee High School, who come into the Classic having compiled three state championships in Idaho and a 92-16 record over the last four years.