Kalaheo's Kaleb Gilmore puts up a shot from the perimeter against Campbell. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Dec 5, 2014 @ McKinley

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Kalaheo

60

Campbell

48

Final	1	2	3	4
Kalaheo (13-1, 31-3)	17	17	15	11	60
Campbell (11-2, 19-8)	10	7	12	19	48

J. Gapusan 18 pts  1 3pm  6/6 FTs

K. Gilmore 29 pts  6 3pm  5/8 FTs

Kaleb Gilmore scored 29 points to lead Kalaheo past Campbell, 60-48 in the Hawaii Self Storage Black and Gold Classic at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium on Friday afternoon.

"We're finding a way and we have a lot to improve on and get better and that will happen in time and playing more games," said Gilmore.

"We have a bunch of new guys playing with each other for the first time so we're learning each others' game and we want to mesh with each other and go from there," said Kalaheo coach Alika Smith.

Kaleb Gilmore scored 13 of the team's 17 points in the first quarter going 4 for 8 from behind the arc. He shot 6 of 12 from the 3-point line for the game and sank 5 of 8 free throws. The Mustangs as a team shot 8 of 20 (40 percent) from the 3-point line and 10 of 16 (62.5 percent) from the free throw line.

"He does, to an extent," said Gilmore, on Coach Smith giving them the green light to shoot the three. "However, we can't be shooting wild shots like I did a couple of times when I should've been looking for my teammates, but that's my fault I should've known better than that."

Gilmore hit 5 quick points to start the second quarter prompting Campbell to call a timeout. The Mustangs pushed their lead to double digits and went up, 34-17 going into halftime and extended their lead to 21 points in the third quarter.

Defensively, Kalaheo was able to disrupt Campbell's offense and created turnovers and converted them into points.

"That's what we want to do and be aggressive defensively, I think we were fouling too much but we have to adjust to what they're calling, but they're working hard so I'm pleased with it," said Smith.

"We had more intensity today, I don't know how, it's our third game in a row and we came out and wanted to win. They (Campbell) are a good team and they are going to be a contender," said Gilmore.

Early into the fourth quarter Kupaa Harrison drove it in for a layup, but sprained his left ankle after he landed and did not return for the remainder of the game. Harrison finished the game with 14 points.

Campbell fought back and cut the deficit to 10 after MeShack Leapaga hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it 54-44 with over 3 minutes left in the quarter.

"We weren't consistent, we did good, but did bad. But against teams like this, you cannot do that, you have to be consistent. The good thing about them is that they're feisty and don't like to lose, so they are going to dig deep and play hard," said Campbell coach Wyatt Tau.

"We got out to a fast lead and didn't really look back, but in the second half, we played a little sluggish and didn't play with tempo like the first half and they came back. We should've been up by more, but they are a good team and came to play. We didn't come to play in the second half," said Gilmore.

"We played an excellent first half and made few mistakes. But at the end of the day you have to put two halves together. That's a good team over there and they answered the call. I don't think we did that very well, we were individualized after Kupaa went down. It's good that we were put in that situation where we can learn from it. You want to learn from it and get better and hopefully the next time you'll respond better," said Smith.

With 2:48 remaining in the game, Campbell center David Marrero and Coach Smith were both called for technical fouls.

Jomar Jett Gapusan scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Sabers, going 6 for 6 from the free throw line. Lamart Dudley added 14 points and hit a 3-pointer from the left wing before the buzzer sounded in the third quarter. Michael Merchant played in the first quarter but was bothered by his asthma according to Coach Tau and did not return for the rest of the game.

Campbell will play Kaimuki tomorrow at 11 A.M. while Kalaheo will play University High at 12:30.

Campbell and Kalaheo will embark on several preseason tournaments after the Black and Gold Classic. The Mustangs will play in the Baldwin Tournament next week, followed by the Pete Smith Classic and Punahou Invitational. The Sabers will also play in the Pete Smith Classic and will leave on Dec. 25 for a tournament in Las Vegas.

"That's what we want to do, we put together a pretty good preseason and put them in different situations as possible and hopefully grow from it," said Smith.