Photos by Andrew Lee (
http://www.twitter.com/HISportsPics)
By Wes NakamaHHSAA
Nigel Williams-Goss scored 17 points and Benas Griciunas added 11 points Wednesday night to help Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) -- the nation's top-ranked boys basketball team -- pull away from scrappy Moanalua, 70-37, in the first round of the 'Iolani Prep Classic.
The Pilots, who have six players committed to play for NCAA Division I programs next season, advanced to Thursday's 8 p.m. quarterfinal vs. Coolidge (Washington, D.C.). Na Menehune will face fellow O'ahu Interscholastic Association member Kapolei at 2 p.m. in the consolation bracket.
Findlay features top players from all over the country and beyond, six of whom are headed to the likes of Indiana, UNLV, UCLA, Washington, Auburn and Mississippi. But Moanalua jumped out to a surprising 5-0 lead after a 17-foot jumper by Kahanu Pu'ulei-Auld and Ola Brown's 3-point swish from the left corner.
"We were able to get guys open and hit shots," Na Menehune coach Greg Tacon said. "Kalaheo did a great job of that against Yates (Houston), and if you do that, you'll stay in games. It doesn't matter if you're playing the No. 1 team in the country, or an OIA team. You gotta make shots."
The Pilots responded with a 15-2 run to go up, 15-7, and took a 19-9 lead into the second period. Moanalua stayed relatively close until midway through the quarter, when Braian Angola's 3-pointer started Findlay on a 12-4 run that made it 38-20 after Dion Wade's 3-pointer with 22 seconds remaining. The teams then traded pairs of free throws, and the Pilots led 40-22 at halftime.
Eliet Donley opened the third period with a 3-pointer to cut it to 40-25, but Findlay got its transition game going shortly thereafter and a layup by Williams-Goss capped a 13-5 run that pushed the lead to 53-30 with two minutes left in the quarter.
A 3-pointer by Wade at the buzzer made it 57-34 entering the fourth.
"It's so hard to run our stuff against a team like that," Tacon said. "We like to run our sets, and in the first we did that, but in the second half we got a little tired because their pressure is amazing. It's a different kind of pressure because of their length."
Stanford Robinson added 10 points for the Pilots.
COOLIDGE (Washington, D.C.) 64, KAPOLEI 43Kory Cooley scored 15 points and David Kadiri added 14 points to help the Colts hold off the Hurricanes.
Coolidge jumped out to an 8-2 lead but Kapolei closed it to 12-11 after Curtis Tavares hit a baseline jumper with 1:30 remaining in the first period. The Colts led 16-11 heading into the second and stretched it to 29-13 with a 17-2 run capped by Donnell Butler's 3-pointer with 2:52 left in the half.
But the Hurricanes responded with a 9-0 run started by Tavares' 3-pointer and capped by Zachary Reeves' layup to cut it to 29-22 with 21 seconds remaining.
Butler then hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put Coolidge up, 32-22, at the half.
Kapolei hung tough in the third quarter, cutting it to 40-32 on Michael Kapoi's short bank shot with 1:20 left, but the Colts finished the period with five straight points and began the fourth with a 9-4 spurt to make it 54-36 with 5:50 left in the game.
Elijah Gipson led the Hurricanes with 16 points, and Tavares added 11 points.
MONTROSE CHRISTIAN (Rockville, Md.) 60, KAHUKU 28
Jordan Swopshire scored 11 points and Dane Pepper and Ishmail Wainwright each added 10 points to lead the Mustangs, who are ranked No. 12 by USA Today.
Montrose Christian will face John Carroll (Baltimore) in Thursday's 6:30 p.m. semifinal. Kahuku will meet Hilo in Thursday's 12:30 p.m. consolation bracket game.
The Mustangs led 10-0 and 16-3 in the first period before stretching the lead to 31-9 after a putback by Wainwright at the horn. Montrose Chistian extended it to 35-6 and the Red Raiders could not get closer than a 19-point deficit the rest of the way.
Kahuku guard Kawe Johnson led all scorers with 21 points, including four 3-pointers.
JOHN CARROLL (Baltimore) 69, HILO 26The Patriots out-scored the Vikings 32-0 in the third period to blow past Hilo, which trailed 12-8 after the first period and 27-18 at halftime.
Kimbal Mackenzie scored 15 points and Rodney Elliott and Trystan Pratapas each added 11 points for John Carroll.
Photos by Andrew Lee
@HISportsPics
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