Huthifa Abdel-Juwad puts up a shot against Moanalua. He had a season-high 20 points in the Tigers' win. Steve Erler | SL

Purchase image 1 of 1

Thu, Jan 7, 2016 @ McKinley

---

Moanalua

45

McKinley

55

Final	1	2	3	4
Moanalua (8-6, 13-14)	8	19	6	12	45
McKinley (8-3, 18-11)	11	16	10	18	55

H. Abdel Jawad 20 pts  2 3pm  2/2 FTs

J. Wilkins 14 pts  2/2 FTs

McKinley (2-1) hit their free throws down the stretch to drop Moanalua (2-1), 55-45 in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Red East matchup at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium on Thursday night.

The Tigers went 9 of 10 from the free throw line in the final minute and never looked back. The Na Menehune got within six, 51-45 after RJ Dominguez's basket with 19.7 seconds left, but could not get any closer.

Moanalua's shots bounced out and Kyle Moraga and Huthifa Abdel-Juwad each hit a pair of free throws to seal the game.

"We stress free throws and that is big part of our success. When we try to control the pace of the game, we are more focused. The free throws fell in," said McKinley coach Duane Omori.

Abdel-Juwad scored a team and game-high 20 points, hit two 3's and went 8 of 9 from the free throw line. Moraga added 15 and shot 6 of 8 from the free throw line—all in the fourth quarter.

"We had a good game plan for 24, but to his credit he did what he needed to do to get to the foul line and he hit shots," said Moanalua coach Byron Mello.

"He was hurt majority of the season last year and we focused on his offseason conditioning. He manages the game well for us and it takes the pressure off the other kids, plays in control and making better decisions," said Omori, on Abdel-Juwad.

The Tigers as a team shot 10 of 13 (76.9 percent) from the free throw line while the Na Menehune went 10 of 11 (90.9 percent).

McKinley went 4 of 11 from the 3-point line while Moanalua only went 1 of 12.

Moanalua got four free points after McKinley's Jeremy Coloyan was called for a technical foul at the 6:34 mark in the second quarter. Isaiah Jackson sank the technical free throws and Elijah Davis sank the personal foul free throws to give the Na Menehune the lead for the first time.

Each team traded baskets and Abdel-Juwad's drive before the buzzer tied the game at 27 going into halftime.

James Wilkins led the Na Menehune with 14 points and had a nice dunk from the block in the third quarter. Dominguez added 10 points, scoring six of them in the fourth quarter.

The game was tightly called, Moanalua finished with 24 fouls and McKinley had 18 fouls for the night and it took the flow away from the game.

"They were calling tight calls and it was taking away from the game, like you said and it was unfortunate," said Omori.

"We played hard and we weren't opportunistic tonight. We had some bad mental breakdowns when we couldn't afford to have them. I thought we competed and McKinley executed their game plan well," said Mello.

Moanalua hosts Kailua on Saturday, Jan. 9 while McKinley travels to the North Shore to take on Kahuku on the same night.