Team Effort Pushes Waiakea to Lopsided Win Over Hilo

Monday night’s featured attraction at Waiakea High School showcased two of the top scorers on the Big Island: Hilo’s Jalen Carvalho and Waiakea’s Lucas St. George.

Both finished with 27 points each, but the real showcase was the collective effort of head coach Paul Lee’s Warriors, who rolled by the rival Vikings 64-45 to strengthen its hold on the Division I second seed while keeping its chances alive for the top seed in the KTA Super Stores / Big Island Interscholastic Federation Boys Basketball Tournament.

Dillon Rellez got Waiakea on the board first with an early three and St. George followed with a pair of field goals to get the Warriors off on a 7-0 run in the game’s first 2:43 of the game.

Carvalho, a 6-foot-3 sharpshooter, tried to get the Vikings back into the game. After Isaac Kaleiwahea hit a free throw to put Hilo on the board, Carvalho turned two Waiakea giveaways into baskets. His first came on a layup as he split a pair of defenders, and he followed that the next time down with a deep field goal to cut the Warriors’ lead to 7-5 with 4:12 to play in the first.

Waiakea (14-7 overall, 6-2 BIIF) missed on several point blank opportunities, keeping Hilo in the game. Carvalho drained a fadeaway jumper above the free throw line as the first quarter clock expired, cutting the Warriors’ lead to 15-10 after eight minutes of play.

While both teams stayed close with one another through the rest of the first half, Waiakea broke the game open in the third quarter with a mix of rebounding dominance and offensive patience. The Warriors doubled Hilo up 8-4 in third quarter rebounding, leading to extra opportunities for St. George, who scored 12 points in the third quarter on 5-for-9 shooting.

Meanwhile, Hilo was held to 1-for-6 third period shooting, partially because the Warriors spread the floor offensively and milked the clock down to limit Hilo’s offensive chances.

Hilo (12-10, 4-4) crept closer in the fourth quarter as Carvalho drained a three at the top of the arc and was sent to the floor by St. George. Carvalho could not convert the four-point play, but his shooting touch got the Vikings within 12 points with less than three minutes to play.

Waiakea would eventually pull away with several fast break baskets off of Hilo missed shots and turnovers.

While St. George turned out a near double-double, missing the mark by one rebound, freshman Calvin Mattos and senior Rellez stepped up to add some extra firepower to Waiakea’s arsenal. Mattos finished with 11 points and six rebounds while Rellez added 15 points and six boards of his own. The Warriors shot 26-for-51 (.510) from the field while keeping the turnovers down to just 11.

Austin Dante scored 13 points for Hilo. The rest of the Vikings combined for the squad’s other five points on 2-for-13 shooting. Hilo shot just under 31 percent (17-for-55) for the game.

With the win, Waiakea stays within reach of Konawaena for the regular season championship. Hilo falls to 4-4 with three games to play in the regular season.

Hilo 10 14 3 18 – 15

Waiakea 15 15 14 20 – 64

Monday’s BIIF boys basketball scores

Hawai`i Preparatory Academy 60, Kamehameha-Hawai`i 50

Konawaena 55, St. Joseph 29

Kea`au 66, Honoka`a 64 (double overtime)

Pahoa 66, Ka`u 56

Kohala 65, Kealakehe 55