Kaiser's Kelsey Lewis II puts up a layup off the fast break against Kailua. Lewis led all scorers with 18 points. Brien Ing | SL

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Fri, Feb 6, 2015 @ Kaiser

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Kailua

39

Kaiser

45

Final	1	2	3	4
Kailua (6-6, 14-12)	10	10	10	9	39
Kaiser (9-4, 24-8)	16	6	9	14	45

K. Lewis II 18 pts  3 3pm  3/4 FTs

C. Mejia 12 pts  0/0 FTs

HAWAII KAI - With the leading scorer strapped with foul trouble, Kaiser guards Kelsey Lewis II and Keoua Mahiko picked up the slack with a combined 32 points in a 45-39 win against Kailua Friday night in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division regular-season finale at the Cougars' gym.

The Cougars (7-4), who had already clinched their division's Division II top seed, trailed 32-31 with six minutes, 21 seconds left before a 7-0 run - ignited by a 6-foot-5 center Chance Kalaugher's five points in that span - to regain the lead they would not relinquish. Shortly after Kalaugher converted a three-point play to increase Kaiser's lead to 38-32, he fouled out.

"I always say our goal is to get better," Kaiser coach Branden Kawazoe said. "This was a huge game for us. We wanted to end the season on high note."

Lewis led with 18 points, including three 3-pointers, and Keoua followed with 14 with one trey. Each also scored off steals.

"They've been our rock all year," Kawazoe said. "Keoua's been improving each day; Kelsey has been solid."

The Cougars are a young team with only two seniors: Lewis and Micah Okimoto.

"It was a huge team win," Lewis said. "It's a huge win for me and Micah. This win means a lot to us. It was our last game and it was a huge team win."

The loss hurt the Surfriders (6-5), who fell into a fourth-place tie with Moanalua (6-5), but dropped to the East's Division I fifth seed because of their loss to Na Menehune.

"Now, we have a super hard road to go now," Kailua coach Wally Marciel said. "We didn't handle their pressure very well. They double-teamed our big guys, we didn't hit shots. At the end we just made bad selections. That's all."

After the teams exchanged 3-pointers to start the game, the Cougars followed with an 11-0 run en route to a 16-10 lead after the first period.

Kailua eventually tied the game at 18 with 3:53 in the second period and took the lead momentarily at 20-18 with 1:12 on the clock on a put-back reserve guard Christian Scheer, who had five rebounds and two blocks. But the Cougars tied it at 20 and took the lead into the half when Lewis stole the ball and scored on a layup with 34 seconds left in the half. It stayed 22-20 at the break.

Kailua opened the second half with a 3-pointer by Noah Ah Yat to take a 23-22 lead. Kaiser tied it on a free throw by Mahiko, but Kailua made a 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 30-23.

But the Surfriders could not hold on, as the Cougars closed the period with an 8-0 run, which included 3-pointers by Mahiko and Lewis. Mahiko capped the run with a dribble drive through the middle of the key, draining his layup before the buzzer to give Kaiser a 31-30 lead.

Hano Kohatu's short jumper at 6:21 in the fourth gave Kailua a 32-31 lead that disappeared on Kaiser's 7- run that was started and ended by Kalaugher. The Cougars opened their lead to 41-34 with 1:09 left, but the Surfriders managed to make it a one-possession game when Kohatsu scored with 49 seconds and after trapping the Cougars into a turnover on the ensuing inbound under the Kailua basket. Nainoa Mercado's 3-pointer with 35 seconds pulled Kailua to 41-39.

But Kaiser reserve Isaiah Akiona was fouled and made both his free throws with 30 seconds left. Kailua could not get anything going on its next possession that ended up with Lewis scoring off a fast break to make it 45-39 to seal the game.

The loss of Kalaugher for about half the game gave other Cougars a chance to shine.

"It's a great opportunity for other guys to step up," Kawazoe said. "When (Kalaugher) goes out, we're extremely thin on the front line, but our guys battled. We tried to do the little things, boxing out. As long as we can rebound and defend, finish possessions, that's where the success comes."

Kalaugher finished with nine points.

"It was definitely a loss," Lewis said of Kalaugher's limited time on the floor because of foul trouble. "He's the focal part of our offense. That who we turn to when we need to score. This game, we just knew it was me and Keo. And even the other guys had to step up too."

Kailua did not help itself with Kalaugher's situation.

"We were trying to," Marciel said. "Our guys just didn't do what they were supposed to do."