LAHAINA — The Lahainaluna High School boys basketball team was not expected to be near the top of the Maui Interscholastic League Division I race, but the Lunas made a run to the top of the standings at the end of the regular season.
The magical run ended in an 82-53 loss to Kailua in the first round of the Heide & Cook/HHSAA state tournament on Monday at the Lunas’ on-campus gym.
“Yeah, I feel like we did a pretty good job, we weren’t supposed to be here,” Lunas senior guard Noah Flores Alexander said following his last game in the red, white and black. “Everyone else was saying that we weren’t in the picture and we just want to show the young guys that we can prove everyone wrong.”
Flores Alexander is considering continuing his basketball career at Rome City Institute in Italy, but he is proud of the legacy that he and fellow seniors Kade Cunningham and Kana’au Castro left for the younger players behind them.
“We just wanted to prove everyone wrong, you know, all the talk, all the adversity, we just wanted to show everyone that Lahaina is here,” Flores Alexander said.
After falling behind 8-0, the Lunas closed within 8-5 on a 3-pointer by Flores Alexander with 3:21 left in the first quarter.
The Surfriders went on an 11-0 run from there to open a 19-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The lead grew to 25-7 before Cunningham sank a 3 for the Lunas to make it 25-10. The Kailua lead grew to 32-10 with 4:03 left in the first half.
In the end, the Surfriders (22-5) were simply too much for the Lunas (10-6). The closest the Lunas got in the second half was 15 points.
“Oh yeah, they’re No. 5 in the state for a reason,” Lunas coach T.J. Rickard said. “They are big, fast and strong. I’m really proud of my guys, we laid down a strong foundation this season for the future.”
Castro scored five straight points for the Lunas, pulling them within 36-19 on a three-point play with 1:03 left in the first half.
The Lunas climbed within 46-30 on a corner 3 by Jayah Bayol with 4:40 to go in the third quarter and another corner 3 by Flores Alexander with 3:20 to go made it 48-33, but they would not get closer the rest of the game.
The Surfriders shot 31 for 53 for the game (58.5 percent) while holding the Lunas to 18 of 60 (30 percent). Castro finished with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, but the rest of the Lunas shot a combined 10 for 45.
Jonathan Philbrick led Kailua with 24 points, and the taller Surfriders controlled the boards 43-30 and blocked six shots compared to no blocks for the Lunas.
“We saw a couple games on Lahainaluna and they’ve got some good athletes,” Kailua coach Wally Marciel said. “Number five (Castro) and number 12 (Flores Alexander) are solid players. So, we wanted to come in and play our tempo of game. All season, we’ve been playing two, three quarters and we haven’t played a full game and I think today we played a full game.”
* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.
KAILUA (22-5)
Elijah Stietzel 8, Jonathan Philbrick 24, Maddox Pung 11, Nai Iwaki 2, Noa Donnelly 15, Nainoa Smith Akana 0, Aizek Kaanoi 0, Skyer Unten 5, Ryze Yasso 2, Sebastien Ledda 4, Aidan Kuhia 3, Corvey Lee 0, Dylan Kunz 8, Alika Saberon 0.
LAHAINALUNA (10-6)
Kade Cunningham 7, Ian-Jay Cabanilla 0, Jayah Bayol 9, Kana’au Castro 22, Ryder Lombardi 0, Jacques Djurberg 5, Noah Flores Alexander 6, Tevainui Loft 4, Kailikea McCabe 0, Trasyn Nava 0, Kaikwa Kaili 0.
Kailua19191925–82
Lahaninaluna5171813–53
Boys Basketball State Championships
DIVISION I
Monday’s Results • First Round
Kailua 82, Lahainaluna 53
Kahuku 52, Konawaena 35
Moanalua 60, Mililani 56
Maryknoll 56, Leilehua 37
Wednesday’s Games • Quarterfinals
At Moanalua
No. 4 Kamehameha Hawaii vs. Moanalua, 5 p.m.
No. 1 Saint Louis vs. Kailua, 7 p.m.
At McKinley
No. 3 Kamehameha Maui vs. Maryknoll, 5 p.m.
No. 2 Campbell vs. Kahuku, 7 p.m.
DIVISION II
Wednesday’s Games • First Round
At Kalani
No. 4 Seabury Hall vs. Hawaii Baptist, 5 p.m.
No. 1 Kohala vs. Kalani, 7 p.m.
At Damien
No. 3 Kauai vs. Honokaa, 5 p.m.
No. 2 Farrington vs. University, 7 p.m.
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