Kahuku jumped out to a 21-9 lead in the first period, then leaned on relentless defense and a strong showing by the Red Raiders bench in a wire-to-wire 79-60 win over Kapolei to claim the school's second OIA Red division crown.

The Hurricanes came back in the second quarter of play, outscoring the Red Raiders by a 17-13 margin to close the gap to single digits at the half.

But about midway through the third quarter, Kahuku would pull away for good, led in large part by guard Kawehena Johnson, who hit a big three at the 5:27 mark to spark the run, as well as converting a number of Hurricanes' turnovers into scores.

"He (Johnson) and Bronson (Beatty) were feeding off of each other in the press." said Kahuku head coach Darren Johnson.

Johnson finished the game with 14 points, nine of them coming in the third period, as Kahuku used a 19-9 spurt to take a 53-35 lead into the fourth.

The Hurricanes would pick things up offensively in the final stanza, with guard Curtis Tavares hitting for 3 three-pointers and forward Christopher Dillard adding 7 more. But the Red Raiders would match them point-for-point, led in large part by reserves Lasselle Thompson and Beatty, who combined for 15 points in the quarter.

Johnson commented, "You know what, we really truly expect that from them. And if they come in and do that then we keep the run going."

"I just go in there to play defense, and just get boards for us, but Mason and everyone was just finding me at the right time today." said the 6-3 senior guard/forward Beatty, who finished the night with 13 points.

Along with Beatty, Thompson would contribute 10 points and Danny Aki 4 as the Kahuku bench accounted for 27 of the team's 79-point total.

Kapolei got a game-high 19 points from Tavares and 13 from Dillard in the loss.

Both teams will represent the OIA in next week's HHSAA Divsion I Boys Basketball Tournament, with Kahuku earning a seeded berth and a first-round bye.

"You know we struggled early (this season), but going into states we feel real good with this win." added Beatty.

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