Kalaheo boys basketball coach Alika Smith issued a challenge to his team in the midst of an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit against Kahuku Wednesday night.

"At halftime coach was just like, 'wake up,' " Mustangs' senior forward Kupaa Harrison said. "We were making good defensive plays in the third quarter, but we couldn't make any baskets and in the fourth quarter we got some baskets, coach called a timeout and said, 'This is do or die, this is what you play for. Show me that you have some heart,' and he just challenged us and we just tried to rise up."

Smith's squad responded at just the right time.

Kalaheo turned a 45-34 deficit into a 50-all tie with a 16-5 run in a five-minute and 38-second stretch late in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

"It was a lot better effort in the second half," Smith said. "I'm not sure how many turnovers we forced, but we made them work for everything they got, for the most part, and all the credit goes to those kids that just didn't want to give up."

The Mustangs, who trailed 33-25 at halftime, turned up the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter and overtime to the tune of 10 turnovers — including three in the extra period — and put the game away at the free-throw line, where they made 13 of 19. Kaleb Gilmore made 6 of 8 from the line in overtime and finished with a team-high 22 points.

Kalaheo allowed Kahuku's inside duo of Denhym Brooke and Hyrum Harris to combine for 39 points and 25 rebounds, but most of their damage came in the first half.

"We just had to pressure the ball (in the second half) full court," Gilmore said of the Mustangs' halftime adjustments. "We weren't going to relax, we had to pressure them because that was the only way we could get them to pick up the pace and go in our favor."

Smith said in addition to the backcourt pressure, he urged his posts to get more physical with Brooke and Harris.

"We just tried to bump them off spots," Smith said. "It's hard to bump those big guys off spots, but they were catching the ball further and further away from the bucket and once they caught it on the perimeter we backed off to see if they could shoot a jump shot — which they didn't — and we just tried to move our feet."

Kahuku coach Alan Akina credited Kalaheo for the comeback.

"Alika's got them playing really good," Akina said. "They're running everything on point, they look great. They got their timing down, they've got shooters, they're scoring inside and they're all smart kids. They're all basketball kids, you can tell. We've got some basketball kids, but we've got some football players and we've got to try to teach our football players how to play."

The Mustangs' next test will come Friday when they visit Castle.