By Paul Honda
Saturday, December 13, 2003

HONOLULU—The Radford Rams would have liked nothing better than to win the championship koa bowl of its own James Alegre Invitational.

And then, perhaps, hand the bowl to the legendary, retired coach himself. It wasn’t to be, however. Kawika Hepa drilled an open 3-pointer with seven seconds to play, lifting Kamehameha over Radford, 37-35, in the title game of the tourney Saturday night.

Punahou, which fell to Kamehameha in the semifinal round, 50-46, captured third place. The Buffanblu rallied to a 54-46 win over Kailua.

In the consolation title game, Leilehua outlasted Saint Louis, 42-38. Pearl City edged Honoka’a, 45-41, in the seventh-place game.

Hepa, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, and center Waika Spencer scored 10 points apiece to lead Kamehameha. Ikaika Hardy added eight points.

Mike Davis, a junior guard, scored 13 points, and Tauran Moore added 11 for Radford. The Rams concentrated on doubling down on Spencer, a 6-5 junior. Meanwhile, Moore chased Hepa around the floor before getting caught in a double pick. Hepa caught the ball at the top of the key, squared up and hit nothing but net. “He made a big shot,” Moore said.

Though Hepa’s shot swished through with seven seconds left, the Rams were slow to call a time out and the whistle did not blow until just four seconds were left. After a time out, Radford barely got the ball inbounds against Kamehameha’s fullcourt press, and immediately called time out with 2.9 seconds left. On the ensuing play, Moore dribbled upcourt and had to settle for a halfcourt heave that wasn’t close.

It was a disappointing end for a spirited, if small, Radford crowd. With the game tied at 28, Kamehameha seemingly took control of the game midway through the final quarter. Hepa scored on a pullup jumper, and Hardy scored a layup on a full-court pass from Rykin Enos. After Hardy came up with a steal for a breakaway layup, Kamehameha led 34-28 with 2:49 left in the game.

Radford battled back. Ricardo Shipley hustled under the glass for a putback, and Moore drilled a 3-pointer on the right wing to pull the Rams within 34-33 with 51 seconds remaining.

Michael Nii missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 36 seconds to play, and Radford was opportunistic. Davis drew a foul on a drive, and hit two foul shots to give Radford a 35-34 lead with 20 seconds left. That set up Hepa’s winning shot.

Kamehameha 11 08 07 11 — 37
Radford 06 08 12 09 — 35

Punahou 54, Kailua 46—A pair of young guns powered the Buffanblu in a comeback win over the Surfriders. Freshman guard Jeremiah Ostrowski scored 15 points and classmate Spencer McLaughlin, a 6-5 center, also scored 15 for Punahou.

Ryan Rodrigues and Wayne Kaiu-Denning scored 10 points apiece, and Justin Pedro added nine for Kailua. The Surfriders used a 2-3 zone to test the Buffanblu in the opening quarter. Eventually, however, Punahou’s long-range shooting sharpened, and relentless fullcourt pressure took momentum out of Kailua’s offense.

Kailua 13 04 21 08 — 46
Punahou 07 16 20 11 — 54

Leilehua 42, Saint Louis 38—Angelo Massey scored 20 points as the mighty Mules fought off a late rally by the Crusaders.

Keao Monteilh scored 10 points for Saint Louis before fouling out in the final seconds.

Leilehua rolled to a 35-19 lead early in the fourth quarter before the Crusaders came back. A 3-point shot by Monteilh cut the margin to 35-25, which caused Leilehua head coach Keith Spencer to send his starters—who did not start—back into the game.

Saint Louis continued to rally. Another trey by Monteilh cut the lead to 40-33 with 1:58 remaining. After Desmond Hanohano and Preston Ho each made a free throw, the lead was 40-35 with 1:26 to go.

Massey struggled at the foul line, making just 2-of-6 attempts in the final quarter, but the Mules persevered with strong defense. Saint Louis, which had just three practices coming into the tournament, made just 7-of-14 attempts at the free-throw line.

Saint Louis 05 10 04 19 — 38
Leilehua 11 14 08 09 — 42

Pearl City 45, Honoka’a 41—Brandon Rambonga scored 16 points as the Chargers pulled away in the final minute for the win. Pono Kahananui paced the Dragons with 19 points.

Pearl City 15 13 09 08 — 45
Honoka’a 13 15 07 06 — 41

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