Kaiser junior Chance Kalaugher scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 70-48 win at Castle and posted 17 points in a 58-48 win over Farrington. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Male Athlete of the Week: Chance Kalaugher, Kaiser basketball
The Kaiser boys' basketball team has been riding a wave of momentum lately, having won four of its last five games in the ultra-competitive Eastern Division of the Oahu Interscholastic Association, and a big part of that success has been the play of junior forward Chance Kalaugher.

The 6-foot-5 Kalaugher is averaging a team-high 19.8 points per game, which tops all of the OIA Division II and puts him amongst the state leaders.

"Chance has been improving steadily through the course of the season and he's such a huge presence both offensively and defensively for us," Kaiser coach Brandon Kawazoe said.

Kalaugher helped the Cougars to a pair of victories last week. He scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 70-48 win at Castle Tuesday and posted 17 points in a 58-48 win over Farrington Thursday.

"He was solid against Castle, but against Farrington he was in foul trouble in the first half, but he stayed out of foul trouble in the second half," Kawazoe said. "He was focused well and mentally prepared. For him, the big thing is to stay in games and stay out of foul trouble and he's continuing to get better at that. Offensively he picks up a lot of charges, but he's been able to avoid those, which is important."

Kawazoe said he and his coaching staff have worked extensively on Kalaugher's mental approach to a game and keeping his emotions in check.

"I think he's getting better at managing the game mentally and understanding that when he's starting to get frustrated that our whole goal for him is that when someone comes into the ball game, as far as a spectator, they shouldn't know what's going, how he's feeling, whether he is having a good game, a mediocre game, a bad game; He should be level-headed at all times and in control of everything," Kawazoe said.

Kalaugher is the tallest player on his team and the Cougars rely on him in the post, but he's also been working to improve his perimeter game as well.

"We're trying to work on that for the next level, because in college he has to become a guard, but at the same time we're trying to improve his game inside," Kawazoe said. "We're working on his footwork, playing with his back to the basket. The goal is to help him improve his game, because the more diverse he becomes the harder he'll be to guard.

Kaiser, which won the OIA D2 title last year, sits in third place in the East with two games remaining. It made its season debut in the ScoringLive/OC16 Boys Basketball Power Rankings Monday at the No. 10 spot and is the lone D2 school ranked.

"It's great to see guys from the JV come up and step up and become players for us," Kawazoe said. "It's a tribute to everybody buying in. The assistant coaches have built relationships with the players off the court and we're becoming a closer team. The goal is still to get better everyday and be better at the little things, especially fundamentals, because the biggest difference when the games are tight will be those little things, so we're still trying to evolve and grow."

Kalaugher and the Cougars return to the hardwood Wednesday night when they visiting second-ranked Kahuku.

Female Athlete of the Week: Aloha Salem, Konawaena basketball
Aloha Salem had quite the night to remember last Wednesday.

The Konawaena senior guard scored a career-high 46 points, including a school-record 14 3-pointers, in a 94-18 win over Hawaii Prep.

"She was on fire," Wildcats' coach Bobbie Awa said of Salem. "She was hitting early on — like three or four in a row, then maybe missed one, then was hitting again — it was pretty crazy. Just an incredible shooting night."

Salem, a senior guard, is one of three senior transfers from Lahainaluna. The others are twin sisters Lindsey and Taylor Bates.

"We played against the girls (previously) and all three girls that came over are very good players," Awa said. "(Lahainaluna) coach Todd (Rickard) has done a wonderful job with the girls. We're blessed that they came over to play for us."

Awa said it took some time for the trio to mesh with the rest of the team, but things are coming together nicely.

"It was just about getting some kind of chemistry," Awa said. "The girls all get along very well, so we just had to get each player trying to learn our style of basketball — which isn't much different from Lahainaluna's — so I felt the transition was kind of easy."

All three transfers are seniors, which Awa said helped with the maturity of transitioning to a new program.

"You could see it form the beginning of the season to now, the leadership and the calmness and the composure that they bring compared to some of our freshmen girls," Awa said. "They brought over a lot of composure, but they also all can shoot the ball very well, so we don't hold them back."

Awa said all three have the green light to shoot.

"If they're open we tell them to let it fly," Awa said. "This team is probably the best shooting team that I've ever coached, so it's exciting basketball."

Against HPA, Salem's teammates kept finding her, Awa said.

"The great thing about it is I think we still play good team basketball, so if you have the hot hand they're going to look for you," Awa said. "Everybody kind of got into it. It was pretty interesting and a sight to see."

Awa said that Salem has improved upon her shot selection since the start of the season.

"She's learned to take good shots," Awa said. "I think she had the green light at Lahainaluna, too, and she seems to get her shots in the flow of the offense, so I think she's learned a lot about what is a good shot and what is not a good shot. I'm excited for her. I think it's a great boost for her confidence."

Off the court, Awa calls Salem "a fun girl to be around."

"She is a funny girl," Awa said. "She's very creative, she likes to dance. She's not a shy girl."

Konawaena, which has been ranked atop the ScoringLive/OC16 Girls Basketball Power Rankings all season, has run its record to 10-0 and is the top seed in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I playoffs, which will be held in Kealakekua this weekend.

Salem and the Wildcats will play fourth-seeded Keaau in a Friday semifinal.

BOYS BASKETBALL
Shyrome Batin, Honokaa — Scored 20 points in a loss to Kamehameha-Hawaii

David Benevedes, Castle — Scored 19 points in a win over Moanalua

John Black, Island Pacific — Scored 24 points in a win over Hawaiian Mission

Denhym Brooke, Kahuku — Scored 21 points in a win over Kaimuki

Kekoa Fields, Mililani — Scored 20 points in a win over Waialua

Hyrum Harris, Kahuku — Scored 19 points in a win over McKinley

Kupaa Harrison, Kalaheo — Scored 18 points in a win over Anuenue

BJ Hosaka, Hawaii Baptist — Scored 18 points in a win over University High

JB Kam, Punahou — Scored 18 points in a win over Saint Louis

Reid Kim, Hawaiian Mission — Scored 26 points in a win over Lanakila Baptist

Kapiina King, Damien — Scored 22 points in a loss to Hanalani and scored 14 points with 13 rebounds in a loss to Hawaii Baptist

Noah Kurosawa, Saint Francis — Scored 19 points in a loss to Le Jardin

Joshua Luna, Christian Academy — Scored 22 points in a loss to Le Jardin

Jerrold Mariano, Lanakila Baptist — Scored 20 points in a loss to Hawaiian Mission

Kevin Marks, Saint Louis — Scored 18 points in a loss to Iolani

Kyrie McRaven, Moanalua — Scored 18 points in a win over Kalani and scored 18 points in a loss to Castle

Viliami Pua, Saint Francis — Scored 23 points in a loss to Le Jardin

Jordan Riley, Radford — Scored 25 points in a loss to Campbell

Kimo Romena, Anuenue — Scored 29 points in a loss to Kaimuki and scored 18 points in a loss to Kalaheo

Tolby Saito, Pahoa — Scored 39 points in a win over Hawaii Prep

Jeff Schaake, Hanalani — Scored 23 points in a loss to Saint Francis

Zion Shepherd, Mid-Pacific — Scored 18 points in a win over Kamehameha

Justice Sueing, Maryknoll — Scored 24 points in a win over Punahou and scored 20 points in a win over Mid-Pacific

Kalakaua Timoteo, Mililani — Scored 18 points in a win over Nanakuli and scored 22 points in a win over Waialua

Alexander Tungpalan, Kalani — Scored 23 points in a loss to Moanalua

Dominick Venezia, Le Jardin — Scored 19 points in a win over Saint Francis

Dan Villejo, McKinley — Scored 18 points in a win over Roosevelt

Pukana Vincent, Kamehameha-Hawaii — Scored 21 points in a win over Waiakea and 21 points in a win over Honokaa

Fisher Yu, Hawaiian Mission — Scored 21 points in a loss to Island Pacific

Abdel-Kader Ziane, Kapolei — Scored 22 points in a win over Waipahu

BOYS SOCCER
Carter Cameron, Kamehameha — Scored two goals in a win over Damien

Sergei Scharer, Saint Louis — Scored two goals in a loss to Pac-Five

Dillon Waidyatillka, Iolani — Scored four goals in a win over Damien

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Tywanna Abbott, Leilehua — Scored 20 points in a win over Moanalua

Riana Arima, Kamehameha-Hawaii — Scored 17 points in a win over Kau

Gieani Balino, Campbell — Scored 20 points in a loss to Kailua

Sierra Buscher, Iolani — Scored 16 points in a win over Maryknoll

Cameron Fernandez, Lahainaluna — Scored 21 points in a win over King Kekaulike

Tianna Hanohano, Nanakuli — Scored 16 points in a win over Farrington

Molimau Heimuli, Farrington — Scored 22 points in a win over Waianae

Kyle Johnson, Aiea — Scored 30 points in a loss to McKinley

Jocelyn Ki, University High — Scored 17 points in a win over St. Andrew's

Sierra Koki, Castle — Scored 25 points in a win over Waipahu

Maegen Martin, Maryknoll — Scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a loss to Iolani

Jerri Maluyo, Leilehua — Scored 27 points in a win over Moanalua and scored 24 points in a loss to Roosevelt

Karly Navas, Damien — Scored 18 points in a win over La Pietra

Ciera O'Brien, Nanakuli — Scored 24 points in a win over Farringto

Tara Takata, Kailua — Scored 18 points in a win over Campbell

Patria Vaimaona, Kailua — Scored 23 points in a win over Mililani

GIRLS SOCCER
Randi Fontes, Pearl City — Scored two goals in a win over Kaiser

Tia Furuta, Mililani — Scored two goals in a win over Kahuku

Haley Graham, Moanalua — Scored a goal in a wins over Aiea and Kahuku

Aliani Lorenzo, Campbell — Scored a goal in wins over Waianae, Kaiser and Mililani

Noelle Mercado, Kaiser — Scored two goals in a loss to Campbell and two goals in a loss to Pearl City

Anessa Ridley, Moanalua — Scored two goals in a win over Waianae

Kenna Sabino, Campbell — Scored a goal in wins over Kaiser and Mililani

Rayna Santiago, Nanakuli — Scored two goals in a win over Farrington

Alysha Somera, Waipahu — Scored two goals in a win over Nanakuli

Destiny Souza, Campbell — Scored two goals in a win over Kaiser and the game winner against Mililani

Dallas Young-Toledo, Waialua — Scored two goals in a win over Waipahu