HILO – Hawaii Prep junior Javan Perez was tasked with a tough mission: guard Kohala’s O’Shen Cazimero, who’s a nightmare to defend off the dribble.
But Perez made life a little tough for Cazimero, and even better his Ka Makani teammates built a wall around the basket, and the offense had a high-powered performance.
Defense and accurate shooting sparked HPA past the Cowboys 78-58 in the BIIF Division II championship on Wednesday at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, spelling an undefeated title repeat for the tall and athletic Ka Makani.
The Cowboys (11-3) and Ka Makani (14-0) next play at the HHSAA tournament Feb. 16-18 on Oahu and HPA figures to have a chance at the second seed.
“The second one feels better because it’s a repeat, and we went through the season undefeated,” Perez said. “O’Shen is a talented guy. I wanted to stay on my toes and play in front of him.”
Ka Makani stationed their bigs on opposite sides of the lane. When Cazimero shot a gap, HPA collapsed the lane. The team’s height also came in handy on the glass. Ka Makani won the battle on the board by a whopping margin, 46-24.
“We wanted to have 10 eyes on O’Shen all the time,” HPA coach Fred Wawner said. “Our guys were disciplined. They didn’t try to block shots. They built a wall. It was a team effort. Javan did a nice job denying O’Shen the ball, and we made them take tough shots.”
Kohala didn’t have a matchup for 6-foot-5 junior Valentinas Ulinas, who scored 26 points on 12 of 19 shooting. He also pulled down 13 rebounds for a double-double for HPA, which shot 57 percent (35 of 61) from the field.
Michael Hughes hit bank shots all over the place and finished with 16 points, Perez and freshman Tre Walker, who bombed 3 of 4 long balls, had 11 points each.
Cazimero scored 23 points on 7 of 16 shooting and dropped 3 of 6 from beyond the arc for the Cowboys, who shot just 36 percent (21 of 58). Isaiah Salvador added nine points, Jeffrey Francisco eight and Koby Agbayani had seven points.
The Cowboys wanted to run Ka Makani to the ground, but HPA kept subbing in rest bodies.
“They had stamina. When you walk the ball up, you don’t use energy,” Kohala coach Don Fernandez said. “If they used more energy, maybe they don’t jump as high or run as fast.
“But I’m proud of our guys and I’m glad we had the opportunity to coach them. They’re small but have mighty hearts.”
The Cowboys couldn’t get around HPA’s height, especially around the rim. Ulinas changed shots and his tall pals Matija Vitorovic and Hughes gobbled up rebounds.
With the interior well-protected, Kohala had to find a way to score and fired 3-point attempts. But the shots kept bouncing off the rim to a tune of a 25 percent clip (5 of 20).
The running Ka Makani took a 35-21 halftime lead, sprinting to the rim for three layups. Their best scoring play was often putbacks. They’d shoot, miss, grab the rebound and get the putback. They got a pair of putbacks in the first half.
HPA broke Kohala’s press with relative easy, and that fast ball-movement opened up shots. Ka Makani shot 52 percent in the first half.
In the first quarter, Hughes soared in for a layup, got a putback on the next possession, and Ulinas scored on another putback for a 16-9 lead.
To start the second period, Dawson Hoopai got his shot blocked, grabbed the rebound and hit a jump shot. The Cowboys didn’t have it easy creating shots.
HPA then scored nine straight points, hitting open jump shots. Hughes and Ulinas hit back-to-back 16-foot jump shots. They soared over defenders to get open looks. Perez buried a 3-pointer, and sank a jump shot for a 25-11 lead.
Francisco sliced though HPA’s packed defense for a layup to cut the score to 25-13. Then Cazimero buried an open 3 to get the score within to 25-16.
But Ulinas was an unstoppable force with his height and athleticism. He scored again, and Walker followed with consecutive 3-pointers.
The Cowboys couldn’t single out a player to focus their defensive attention on because HPA had so much balance. Ulinas had 10 points, Hughes eight, Walker six and Perez five points.
Cazimero had eight points in the first half but he had to battle Perez, who played strong off-ball defense. Cazimero had one layup, a three-point conversion, in the first period.
The Kohala freshman had to bounce off several screens to get the ball. Perez did a nice job of denying him the ball.
The Cowboys struggled with their jump shots in the first half. They shot just 33 percent, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range.
Laakea Kauka drilled a 3-pointer right before the buzzer to get the Cowboys within 35-21 at halftime.
Kohala 9 12 15 22 — 58
HPA 16 19 19 24 — 78