Hanalani's Chas Kubo puts up a shot against Le Jardin. Kubo scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to lift the Royals to the win. Tyler Guieb | SL

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Sat, Feb 7, 2015 @ Le Jardin

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Hanalani

50

Le Jardin

43

Final	1	2	3	4
Hanalani (10-5, 19-7)	14	6	10	20	50
Le Jardin (3-10, 6-15)	9	10	12	12	43

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

D. Venezia 12 pts  2/6 FTs

J. Schaake 21 pts  1 3pm  4/8 FTs

D. Venezia 11 tot  3 off  8 def

C. Kubo 7 tot  3 off  4 def

M. Hashimoto 4 ast

J. Leaman 4 ast

KAILUA – Chaz Kubo wasn't going to let an early shooting funk slow him down.

The senior Hanalani guard scored all of his 13 points in the fourth quarter to help the Royals slip by host Le Jardin, 50-43 in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II contest at the Charles B. Wang Gymnasium Saturday night. 

"I just wanted to be aggressive because in the beginning I was just taking 3-pointers, mid-range shots, but being aggressive is good for me," Kubo said on his fourth quarter performance.

The win helped Hanalani (8-3) keep pace with Hawaii Baptist (8-2) atop the league standings. The two teams close out the season against each other next Thursday at the Royals' home court. The winner of that game will clinch the league's regular season title and one of two berths into the Division II state tournament.

"It was huge. Every win is important now, because we're so close," said Hanalani coach Keoni Haole. "Every game is a big game. In this league everyone is so close so you have to come ready to play. Anybody can beat anybody on any given night so this was huge for us." 

Le Jardin fell to 3-7 and saw its two-game winning streak come to a close. The Bulldogs were outscored 20-12 in the fourth quarter.

"I wouldn't say anything went wrong, they just made a few more plays," first-year Le Jardin coach Kenneth Powell said when asked about the fourth quarter difference. "We made a couple crucial mistakes but we're a young team. We're just a young team. We haven't been healthy. We're still trying to work our chemistry together, but I wouldn't say anything went wrong for us."

Kubo was the driving force behind the Royals' big fourth quarter. His first basket of the night, a triple from the left corner, broke a 32-all game early in the period. After Le Jardin retook the lead, 40-38 on Gerald Lawson's 3-pointer, Kubo knocked down two free throws to tie things back up with 3:57 left in regulation. 

The senior guard gave the Royals the lead for good on a put back attempt just before the two-minute mark. Kubo also scored the next two baskets to put Hanalani ahead, 46-40 with under a minute to play. From there the Royals were able to close out the game at the free throw line and escape with the victory. 

"He struggled throughout the game. He was just struggling with taking care of the ball – but we rallied around him in the fourth, with his leadership, and knocking down those big shots and big free throws really helped us so he showed up at the right time," Haole said on Kubo.

Hanalani's Jeff Schaake was also huge in the contest, leading all scorers with 21 points.

Center Dominick Venezia led the Bulldogs in the loss with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.

After both teams traded baskets to start the game, Hanalani went on a 7-0 run to take an early 11-4 lead. The Royals continued to dominate the first half and pushed their lead to nine, 20-11 midway through the second quarter. 

Le Jardin answered with an 8-0 run to close the first half, making it a one-point game at the break.

The Bulldogs took their first lead of the game, 21-20 at the 7:19 mark of the third quarter on Corey Grip's steal and fast break bucket. This would be the start of a back-and-forth quarter that saw five lead changes and one tie.

Le Jardin took its largest lead of the game 31-26, on a couple of baskets from Venezia, but gave up a 4-0 run to Hanalani to close out the third quarter.