The Division-II Honokaa Dragons have played well in tournament and exhibition games on Oahu this week. A win over D-I Mililani, which features superb athlete Kalakaua Timoteo, would be another feather in the cap.
FIRST QUARTER
Mililani’s 2-3 zone is effective enough. The Dragons are finding creases and trying bounce passes, but aren’t able to finish. Their center, Spencer-Herring (sp) is out with two fouls. Isaac Liva, Mililani’s 6-foot-4 senior, has four points so far. He’s going to add a huge weapon to Mililani’s volleyball team, but he’s also a force on the basketball court. He’s gotten a lot thicker in the past year — he also played defensive end for Mililani’s football team — so he’s more powerful, though not as springy and bouncy as I remember about a year or more ago.
Vertical is unmatched except maybe by Timoteo.
7-3 run by the Trojans has extended the lead to 10-5. Time out, Honokaa, 2:46.
The quarter ends with Mililani up 12-5.
SECOND QUARTER
Honokaa with a 2-2-1 press now. It’s causing Mililani to pause, but the Trojans still want to run. They’re staying in a 2-3 zone, but it’s very sticky, very aggressive on the wings. They’re trapping and harassing on the perimeter, making it tough for Honokaa to run their offense through the post. Mililani Coach Jason Tittle giving his bench a lot of minutes in this quarter.
Halftime: Mililani 16, Honokaa 14. The Trojans had some momentum after scoring on the fastbreak a couple of times, but Honokaa played smart. Coach Jayme Carvalho’s team was extremely patient against Mililani’s zone and chewed off a lot of time. I don’t think they aim to hold the ball for one or two minutes, but it didn’t hurt them, that’s for sure. Especially with their big man having two early fouls.
THIRD QUARTER
Honokaa bench did not like that forced, contested 18-foot pull-up J that was all air. That led to an easy Mililani layup. The formula that got them back in the game is something Carvalho wants them to stick with, but it might be slipping away with shot selection like that. MIL leads 28-21, 4:57.
Huge run by the Trojans as the Dragons go through a rut of misses, not getting back on defense and allowing a string of fastbreak buckets by the Trojans. Mililani outscores Honokaa 30-12 in the quarter. Dragons are at the end of their seven-game, five-day trip, so it’s all that unexpected. Credit to Mililani, though. Their front line took over this game on the boards AND they’re running the floor. Not sure if this is the same Mililani team that lost by 45 to Kaiser last week. That’s a rematch I’d like to see soon.
FOURTH QUARTER
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