MPI was coming off a win over Punahou and I knew they'd be tough. Jeff Won, their coach, has been doing this for three decades. He coached age-group hoops while his son (Samson) developed into a standout guard at Maryknoll years ago. I used to play with Jeff in men's leagues during the 1980s.
He came back to help MPI's new varsity coach (Ryan Hirata) and they play as fast as we do.
We got the upper hand early with great fullcourt pressure and smart halfcourt execution against MPI's 2-3 zone. Tani played through a badly bruised thumb injury (bench collapsed at football practice) Chris got two low-post buckets on nice feeds from the corner and wing. MPI double-teamed him down low for a long time after that.
We got the lead up to about 10 at one point before the Owls rallied. They tried to trap up at halfcourt and we had some problems because of impatience. But we got through that and had to withstand their rally.
Ryan hit a key 3-pointer to open the lead to 4 points late in the game. They got within 31-30 on a drive for a three-point play with :07 left. Kapaa missed a 1-and-1, but Anu came up with a steal in the final seconds.
Tough, ugly victory. We're now 7-0 in league play. (I think.)
Lineup: Kanehe Nishimura, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Radyn Kaleikini,Josh M DE Jesus, Ryan Higashionna, Tanielu Mosi Afe, Chase Santos,Keanu Pratt, Chris Afe, Kapaa Nishimura.
Injured: Kali'a Mielke (back, hip).
Vacation: Gabriel Porras, Javan Montiho.
Not available: Josh Roberts (Saint Louis intermediate game).
Mahalo to Brandon Higashionna for shooting video once again. Thank you for preserving a modest, but eternally fun slice of our history, Brandon.
Next: Thursday, 7:15 pm - Thunder vs. Roosevelt (Kalani Varsity League).
WE LUB THIS GAME!
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