Kohala’s O’shen Cazimero picked up where he left off at the HHSAA Division II boys basketball tournament.
The Cowboys’ Big 3 was more of a Big 2 – and at times at Big 1 – and they pasted Waipahu 60-45 in the quarterfinals Thursday night at Kalani High in Honolulu.
Playing at the state tournament for the first time since leading Kohala to the crown as a sophomore, Cazimero dazzled with 31 points, nine rebounds, six steals and three assists.
Kohala (10-0), the BIIF champion, jumped out to 34-11 lead to set up a semifinal matchup against Maui Prep at 5 p.m. this evening at Kalani.
With Koby Agbayani enduring a tough shooting night (2 of 10, four points), fellow senior La’a Kauka scored 21 points. Kauka had six of his team’s 20 steals.
The Cowboys harassed the Marauders (5-8) into 25 turnover and held them to 38.1% shooting.
With Cazimero making 10 of 16 from the field and 10 of 11 from the line, Kohala shot 43.8%
Division I
Iolani clearly showed that the gap is much wider than the Grand Canyon between the state’s best and BIIF basketball in the state quarterfinals.
The ILH runner-up Raiders hammered BIIF champion Hilo 57-31 at McKinley High’s gym on Oahu, outscoring the Vikings 21-2 in the second quarter.
J.J. Mandaquit scored 19 points, and Aaron Clayton added 11 to lead the Raiders (10-4), who led 37-9 at halftime and shot 34%, including 4 of 18 from 3-point range.
Rayson Padilla and backup Logan Querubin scored six points each to lead the Vikings (8-1), who shot 18%, including 2 of 20 from long distance.
Hilo had 20 turnovers and just thee assists and were outrebounded, 49-36.
Padilla, a senior guard, shot 2 of 12 and committed nine turnovers and had three assists.
Iolani plays Mililani in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Moanalua High.
Hilo plays Maryknoll in consolation at 7 p.m. Friday at McKinley.
On Monday, Kahuku eliminated BIIF runner-up Kamehameha 62-37 in the first round.