As a coach’s son and perpetual gym rat, Kiai Apele is always around a basketball, working on his game and sharpening the skills that opponents don’t see until it’s too late.
The Waiakea point guard is well-known for his basketball IQ, and he announced himself as a court savvy player as a freshman back in 2017.
Deny the ball is a simple concept. But Apele put it to good use when he snagged an inbound pass and immediately scored to lift Waiakea over Konawaena 68-66 for the BIIF title.
Last season, the Wildcats exacted their revenge when Austin Ewing sank the game-winning jump shot with five seconds left to defeat the Warriors 63-61 in the BIIF semifinals.
This past season Waiakea had a super team of sorts with the best depth and a player in Apele who raised his game to another level.
Apele was an overwhelming choice as the BIIF Division I player of the year, in a vote by the league’s coaches, Hawaii Tribune-Herald, and West Hawaii Today.
“That was a goal since I was a kid when my brother (Lanaki) was playing because I looked up to him my whole life,” Apele said. “The skill I brought to the floor was basketball IQ and the intangibles was leadership and making my teammates better by directing them and getting them the ball where they could score.”
Senior shooting guard Rekky Prudencio and senior forward Peter Suiaunoa joined Apele on the first team.
Others on the first team were Hilo junior guard Kaukahi Alameda, Kamehameha junior guard Izayah Chartrand-Penera, Keaau forward Patrick Mears, and Konawaena forward Ethan Neru.
Alameda is a two-time selection while everyone else is a first-time pick. Apele and Alameda have played club ball together on Hoop Dreams, coached by Randy Apele. They share many of the same tools from a skill-set box.
But Apele had the benefit of much better depth. All of the Warrior starters and backups were recognized. Elijah Blankenship, Keegan Scanlan, William Soares, and Makana Kaehuaea-Credo all received honorable mention.
Waiakea’s Paul Lee guided the Warriors to their third title in the last four years, though Hilo’s Bruce Ferreira was selected coach of the year for guiding the Viking to the state tournament for the first time since 2012.
“Kiai works hard on his game throughout the year, and it showed in his development over the last three years. It did help that he had a great group of players around him, but he did make the game easier for his teammates as well,” Lee said. “Peter was a big piece to our success. He competed on both ends of the court. He was a special player, very respectful, and a great teammate.
“Rekky’s shooting and scoring were a big part of our offense. Since he always had to be accounted for, it would stretch the other team’s defense. This also gave his teammates room to post or get to the rim.”
The bigger the game, the better Apele played. He had one of the all-time dominant games in the BIIF championship, a 67-45 rout over Hilo.
Apele scored 21 points on 7 of 9 shooting, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished10 assists. He just missed a triple-double (17 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds) in a 73-27 blowout against Hilo in the BIIF semifinals.
Last offseason, he didn’t just play ball with Hoop Dreams. Apele also hit the weight room to change his body. That slender kid in 2017 was replaced by a player with more muscle. Apele could battle under the boards, a reason for his uptick in rebounds.
“I lifted to improve my strength with my dad, Keani Midel, who attends Hilo High, my brother, and Keegan Scanlan,” said Apele, who’s been a sponge when advice comes his way. “The thing that I learned from my dad was always be positive and be a great point guard by making my teammates better. I learned how to compete at the highest level by playing my brother one-on-one every day during the summer.”
Apele also credit his dad, brother, Lee, Midel, coach Clayton Kaneshiro, and his teammates for pushing him. And Apele’s not done yet. With his basketball IQ, he’ll figure out something to sharpen.
“He gets along well his teammates,” Lee said. “We’ve got guys who played well for this year, like Keegan, Makani, and Elijah returning that will also make our team fun to watch again.”