#8 Hilo Upset By Gritty Waiakea

The Waiakea Warriors handed Hilo High their first Big Island Interscholastic Federation loss Monday night, a 62-49 loss in front of 1,000 energetic fans at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

Hilo (14-4, 3-1 BIIF) opened the game with a Jodd Carter three-pointer in transition a minute into the game. Waiakea responded with a 16-2 run over the next five and a half minutes, charged by Bryson Ita’s five points and Mark Pacris’ seven  to lead Waiakea to an 18-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

The Vikings hung with Waiakea throughout the second quarter despite a 4-of-13 shooting effort. Hilo cut the Warriors’ lead down to eight three times in the period, but the cross-town visitors found ways to extend the lead back out, pushing it up as much as 13 points before watching it come back down to eight at 30-22 as halftime hit.

Waiakea (7-6, 3-1 BIIF) faced immense pressure from Hilo in the second half, namely from the sharp-shooting Carter. The confident guard hit his third trey of the game with 6:32 to play in the quarter to get Hilo within four at 34-30. Five minutes later, Carter drilled another three to get Hilo within three at 38-35. Waiakea took a 42-35 lead into the fourth quarter.

Carter was the lone offensive bright spot for Hilo, scoring 21 points on 6-of-16 shooting. He hit five of his 11 three-point attempts and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.

Hilo senior Kamu Patnaude got his team back within three again with a long three to make the score 44-41 in the opening minute of the final period. Unfortunately, Patnaude lost control of his emotions with 2:13 remaining in the game on a call he didn’t agree with from an official. He was given a technical foul for his verbal disagreement with the official, then was given a second technical foul as he continued while he was being restrained by a teammate. His ejection means he will not be able to play Tuesday night against St. Joseph.

Dillon Rellez hit all four technical free throws to give Waiakea a 59-47 lead. Before the ball could be brought back into play, Hilo’s Jacob Genegabus was called for an intentional foul for grabbing Ita. After missing both free throws, Ita was fouled again by Genegabus before the next inbound came in. At that point, the officials brought all ten players on the floor into a huddle to attempt to clean the game up.

Rellez lead four Warriors in double-figures with 13 points. Most of his points came from the free-throw line, where he shot 11-for-12. Owen Sandstrom shot 5-for-5 to add 12 points, Lucas St. George scored 12, and Ita contributed 10 points.

Behind Carter’s 21 points for Hilo, Jacob Genegabus scored nine points and Patnaude added five.

Waiakea 18 12 12 20 – 62

Hilo 10 12 13 14 – 49

Hilo Hangs On to Top Ten Ranking

Despite the loss, the Vikings maintained their ranking in the Star-Advertiser Top Ten rankings, released every Tuesday during the season.

Hilo is ranked eighth in the latest poll, unchanged from last week. Votes for the poll were tallied before Monday night’s result. The Konawaena Wildcats held on to their spot at number nine in the poll, also unchanged from last week. Both teams represent the only neighbor island schools to be ranked in the poll.

On the girls side, Konawaena regained their top ranking from Kamehameha-Kapalama after falling to number two last week. The Wildcats got six first place votes, two less than the Warriors from the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. The difference between both teams is one ranking point in this week’s poll, meaning that the top spot could change again as the season continues.