Kahuku rallies past Punahou, 40-38, to win state title
By Wes Nakama
After an unusually steep and treacherous climb, the Kahuku boys basketball team finally reached the mountain top Friday night by rallying past Punahou, 40-38, in a thriller to win the Hawai'i Army National Guard State Championship.
A spirited and vocal crowd of 2,438 in BankOh Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Inoke Lloyd score the winning basket on a backdoor layup with four seconds remaining to help the Red Raiders to finish the season at 25-4 and win their first state championship since 2017. Defending champ Punahou, which led 10-2 after one period and 20-6 just 34 seconds before halftime, ended up at 27-9.
After the Buff N' Blue tied the score at 38-38 on Hunter Bond's layup off Tanoa Scanlan's assist with 23 seconds left, Kahuku advanced the ball to the frontcourt and called timeout with 13 ticks showing on the clock. According to Red Raiders head coach Brandyn Akana, it was Lloyd who then suggested and drew up the winning backdoor play.
"We never practiced that, (but) Inoke loves that play because that's what they do in club ball," Akana said. "I liked how perfectly, they (Punahou) would chase Kash (Daley) and get those guys out of the way, and set up the backdoor."
On that winning play, which started from a short sideline inbounds pass to D.C. Aukusitino, Mystique Akina-Watson and Justus Daley set up a double-screen on the left wing for Kashus Daley, who scored a game-high 26 points and curled around that screen as Aukusitino dribbled toward them to the left elbow. In the meantime, Lloyd hovered on the right wing before quickly cutting backdoor as Aukusitino delivered a perfect bounce pass leading to the winning layup.
"That was a great play, we run the same play, 'Iolani runs the same play," Buff N' Blue coach Darren Matsuda said. "We usually get guys on it, but they got us on it today."
Punahou used a suffocating tight on-ball defense to shut out the Red Raiders for the first seven minutes, 49 seconds, when Kashus Daley sank two free throws to make it 10-2 at the end of the first period. Kahuku's offensive struggles continued throughout the half, as the Buff N' Blue opened the lead to 20-6 before Kashus Daley drained a 3-pointer with just 26 seconds remaining to cut it to 20-9. Koen Makinano then scored a layup just before the halftime horn to push Punahou in front, 22-9, at the break.
"We just said we're gonna spread it out, we're gonna look inside and move the ball like we've done all year," Kashus Daley said of the halftime discussion. "But our main focus was defense. Every practice, Coach preaches defense, and we feed off our defense."
The Red Raiders opened the third period with an 8-0 run fueled by Kashus Daley's three-point play, 3-point basket from the right wing and then Lloyd's driving layup to cut it to 22-17 with 5:28 left. Scanlan then broke the streak with a turnaround jumper to ignite the Buff N' Blue's own 8-0 run capped by Scanlan's free throw to push the lead to 30-17 with 2:54 remaining.
Scanlan later converted two free throws to give Punahou a 32-23 lead entering the fourth period, but Kashus Daley sank two foul shots to ignite a stunning 12-3 surge capped by Justus Daley's two free throws to tie it at 35-35 with 2:19 showing on the clock.
Ethan Chung's free throw put the Buff N' Blue ahead, 36-35, with 1:52 remaining, but then Kashus Daley was fouled on a 3-point attempt 24 seconds later, and he sank all three free throws to give Kahuku a 38-36 lead. Bond then tied it at 38-38 with his layup with 23 ticks on the clock, setting up the Red Raiders' winning play.
The victory capped an amazing postseason run by Kahuku, which lost leading scorer Ronin Naihe to a wrist injury in the OIA quarterfinals. The Red Raiders proceeded to hold off dangerous Nanakuli in the semifinals, then edged defending league champion Kailua, 35-32, in the title game.
Then in the state tournament, Kahuku defeated ILH powers 'Iolani (57-50), Saint Louis (42-38) and Punahou on consecutive nights.
"These guys battle, I knew we would turn the tide at some point, we just didn't know when -- we were running out of time," Akana said. "But sure enough, the last few minutes, that's when we came on strong and showed our grit ... At the end of the game, we were locked down. Perfect."
Photos: Gavin Yasunari
