LIVE BLOG: Kahuku 56, De La Salle 51, F

Day 3 of the ‘Iolani Prep Classic is underway, a menu of four consolation matchups and four championship-bracket games beginning at 9 a.m.

Monday’s games Consolation Kapolei 58, Waiakea 46 Corona del Sol (Ariz.) 83, Punahou 67 Mount Vernon (N.Y.) 96, Waianae 27 Mid-Pacific 42, Kaiser 34 Quarterfinals Southwind (Tenn.) 47, Kailua 38 Findlay Prep (Nev.) 95, ‘Iolani 37 Oak Hill (Va.) 89, Dr. Phillips (Fla.) 48 Kahuku 56, De La Salle (Calif.) 51

De La Salle (Calif.) warming up.

Samuta Avea warming up.

Dan Fotu warming up.

Jessiya Villa warming up.

Game 16, 8 p.m. FINAL: KAHUKU 56, DE LA SALLE (CALIF.) 51 Fourth quarter Fotu misses a wing 3, Viloria fouls Pratt. That’s the seventh team foul, not good. Pratt shoots 1-and-1. They don’t miss. He hits the first, misses the second, 39-32.

Turnover Kahuku, but DLS misses at the rim in a crowd and Fotu way up high for that. Yes, he was a volleyball player. Villa drives hard in transition, fouled and may have tweaked an ankle. Makes both FTs, 41-32.

Turnover Spartans. 6:57. Avea’s man slips as he crosses over, but he misses the layup and they miss to putback tries. DLS in transition, borderline blocking foul on Viloria. DLS makes one FT.

Pratt drives right for a layup, 41-35. Villa with a tough fadeaway J from the wing, short and Akana is NOT happy.

DLS misses, Kahuku ball, Akana calls time out. They’re losing their cohesiveness and he knows it. 41-35, 5:14. It’s clear Villa is a mismatch for any of the DLS guards in transition, but in halfcourt set, Fotu is a good play and so is Avea. Fotu is 8-for-8 at the line in the tourney.

Fotu iso low post, step back fade, all net. WOHHHHHH. DLS misses twice in the paint and Fotu scoops it in mid-air like a condor, Kahuku ball, 4:00.

Shot clock winding down, Avea’s long 3 misses but Ah-Hoy corrals it in the corner. His pass is tipped, DLS in transition, ball knocked out of bounds, 3:33.

Orr trying to work the pick and roll high, but Fotu is magnificent hedging him. He short-arms his long 3 thinking it might get blocked. How do you measure that? His wingspan and his hustle, and he was backing off to play the drive or recover when Orr missed short.

Fotu to the line, makes both, makes the second, KAH 45-35.

Savarani 3, good. Why are they letting him shoot? He’s deadly, 45-38. Avea forces his way into the paint, fouled, misses the first FT. Makes the second, 46-38. Kahuku staying in man. Pratt tries his right-side drive again and Fotu spikes it to the door. Fans erupt. Time out, DLS. They’ve had to play man the last two possessions. Even with the 35-second shot clock, they don’t feel like they can afford to sit back in that zone.

Nicely-drawn play, Orr drives from the corner to the paint, bounce pass to Savarani in the corner, but he’s short on the 3. Fotu cuffs the rebound. Stoppage for blood on Fotu’s jersey, but they can’t figure out who’s bleeding. It’s not him. 1:55. Both teams in the bonus.

Inbounds pass, Villa slips and DLS scores on a layup. Kahuku pushes the other way and Avea euro-steps for a layup, 48-40. Udenyi called for a charge in the paint. 1:22.

Inbounds in the backcourt to Villa, and he works upcourt on the right side, draws a double team, drives again and is fouled, 1:15. 1-and-1. Hits the first, 49-40.

Second shot long, DLS misses, and Sauvao is chasing the PG, Orr, fouling him as he drives to the basket. Not a shooting foul, 1-and-1, 1:08. Orr swishes. These guys do not miss. Second shot good, 49-42.

Avea to Fotu, layup :55, 51-42. Foul on Kahuku, Orr to the line, :49.1. Two-shot foul, he’s long on the first. Wow. Second FT good, 51-43.

Spartans foul Marcus Damuni, a sophomore, 1-and-1, he misses. Pratt’s elbow J misses, Villa rebounds. Fouled. :31.8, double bonus. First shot is a brick, his hand has to be bothering him by now. Second is good, 52-43.

Orr is a tough customer, goes end to end and hits a bank shot with Ah-Hoy all over him. Time out, DLS, :25, 52-45. DLS down to its final time out. Kahuku has two. Both teams in double bonus.

I’d be surprised if Akana doesn’t keep Fotu in the backcourt as a target along with Villa and Avea. Fotu passes to Avea, fouled with :23 left. Swishes the first, 53-45. Second tumbles in, 54-45.

Orr drives left and is fouled, technical foul on Avea with 17.5 seconds left. Not good. Orr hits two FTs, 54-47, and now he’ll shoot the shooting foul FTs. Makes both, 54-49. That’s 4 points and could be more.

Orr in NBA range on the pick and roll, Fotu hedges and retreats and Orr launches, just short. They shouldn’t let him have that. Jump ball on the rebound, DLS ball, :09.7

Inbounds pass to Orr, who drives and scores, time out, DLS, 54-51, :04.4. This should’ve been over, but Avea overreacted to a bad call. Lesson learned, hopefully.

DLS fouls Ah-Hoy before the inbounds pass. He’s shooting two. First is all net, this game should be over. 55-51. Second shot all net. Orr’s prayer at the buzzer misses. The magic is real for Kahuku. They will face Findlay Prep tomorrow night in the semifinals.

Third quarter DLS running its set to a tee, pass to Udenyi out of bounds. Villa pushes hard, misses a 5-foot runner over Sean O’Donnell. DLS 3-pointer from the wing by O’Donnell, 25-19.

Kahuku loses the ball, Udenyi on the ground with it, bench calls time out, 6:45.

Udenyi misses a bunny, Villa pushes into the heart of the DLS defense, scores at the rim, 27-19. Relentless.

Ah-Hoy playing hard defense on his man near midcourt, crowd wants a 5-second call. He tips the ball away, dives, mad scramble, and Headley ends up getting fouled on a follow shot. Hits one FT, 27-20.

Fotu works the baseline post, misses a 15-footer, hustles back and takes a charge from Udenyi. That took some guts. Good call.

Another iso, but this one is closer to the block for Fotu, who is patient this time, saves the dribble and spins baseline for a reverse layup. Nice. KAH 29-20.

Pratt drives, gets his shot over Fotu, 29-22. Villa misses a shot and nobody is back, easy layup for O’Dea, 29-24. DLS 2-3 zone is a problem for Kahuku. Turnover, push downcourt and Kevin Savarani is open in the corner, swish, 29-27.

Fotu drives for the reverse again, fouled, makes both FTs, he’s 8-for-8 in the tourney. KAH 31-27. Savarani drives from the high post, fouled by Fotu. Pure shooter. Two shots, sinks both. 31-29.

Avea launches from the left wing, 3. Zonebuster. KAH 34-29.

O’Dea drives and is fouled by Wright, shooting two, :55. These Spartans do not miss FTs. O’Dea makes both, 34-31. DLS tries to surprise Kahuku with fullcourt pressure off the made FT, but Villa blazes right by, feeds Wright in the high post, elbow J is good, 36-31.

Time out, DLS, :22.

Spartans miss a tough corner shot, rebound Kahuku with :10 left. Akana hollers for them to push. Avea dribbles from the left wing to top, lateral to Villa, who swishes a 23-footer at the buzzer. This is becoming magical.

End Q3: Kahuku 39, De La Salle 31.

Halftime Kahuku playing effective basketball, but for a second game in a row, they’re not in a great offensive flow. Doesn’t matter right now. They scrap for every loose ball, Avea is at rim level on most of his rebounds, and they’re winning the battle in transition enough for a nine-point lead. Avea is looking more confident, but not enough to attack the rim continuously; he’s a good FT shooter. And Fotu clearly isn’t totally comfortable with isolations. Maybe he’s just too excited. Maybe the fact that UH coach Eran Ganot is here gave him the jitters. Probably not. Avea is at his best when he can break down a defense and find open cutters, which he did twice for assists. Would be interesting to see him work the pick and roll with Villa, either handling the ball. They did it once the other night.

Second quarter Fotu iso again, gets picked. They didn’t run isos for him last time.

Avea driving in transition, too crowded, loses the ball. Kahuku trying a bit too hard right now. DLS looks more loose and in system.

Avea pushing under control, dishes to Codie Sauvao, who passes right back, layup, 17-10. Udenyi fouled by Fotu, two shots. Misses both. Long rebound, Sauvao called for a foul.

Udenyi works the low post on Fotu, has a shot, passes instead. Fotu has octopus arms. 3-pointer misses for DLS, but the ball is stripped out of Villa’s hands, off his leg, DLS ball again. They are scrappy.

Udenyi with a wild shot on a drive, out of bounds, KAH ball. Avea wing J is short. He could pump and drive all night, I think. Hesitating just a bit. Fotu on the wing with the ball, drives and travels. He’s a junior, looks like he’s pressing a bit.

DLS trying to go inside-out as much as possible, but Kahuku’s defense rotating nicely. 3-point leaner is way short, tipped out of the key by Avea and Villa picks it up. Two on one, he spins into the lane and is fouled. Hits the deck hard and a trainer is looking at his right hand. He’s trying to make a fist. Time out, Kahuku, 2:59.

Is Dan Fotu an iso guy? He seemed more comfortable against Mount Vernon as a hub in the middle, passing, driving, crashing the offensive boards. Maybe Coach Brandyn Akana wants to see what he can do in game setting. A big game.

Villa hits one of two FTs, 18-10. Udenyi catches an inbounds pass and Villa is stuck with him on a switch. Udenyi recognizes it immediately and attacks before Fotu can recover for a block. Layup good, 18-12.

Villa attacks hard, bucket and foul, 21-12. He is relentless even after the injury to his shooting hand. Udenyi in the post, traveling. I keep wondering what he would do as a defensive end. Long arms.

Villa inbounds pass to Fotu on the wing, pass right back to Villa, who hits a smooth 12-foot floater. He’s got a lot of different shots. Dare I say Steve Nash-ish? KAH 23-12.

Orr fouled on a drive, two FTs. Makes both, 23-13. Mark Visoria in the game for Kahuku, corner 3 an air ball. He hit two against Mt. Vernon. DLS pushes and Headley is all alone for a layup, 23-16. Villa fouled, misses the 1-and-1.

End Q2: Kahuku 25, De La Salle 16.

First quarter De La Salle in man defense, Sean O’Donnell on Kahuku PG Jessiya Villa. Samuta Avea nails the pull-up jumper from the wing, KAH 2-0. He looked strong in warmups. Hit a lot of jumpers, even had a cuff dunk that I missed. Ankle seems fine.

Connor O’Dea, a 6-3 senior, shooting two for DLS. Hits one, 2-1. Turnover Kahuku, big Emeka Udenyi drives, shot blocked by Kahuku C Taimoana Wright.

Another offensive board for DLS. Colby Orr drives and dishes to Udenyi for the layup, DLS 3-2. Eric Headley, a 6-4 senior, playing tough defense on Avea, but he persists and drives the baseline to draw a foul. Villa on the inbounds pass does the ol’ Scottie Pippen move, passes off the back of a Spartan defender, grabs the ball and banks it in, KAH 4-3.

No trapping by DLS, straight fullcourt man. Villa drives strong left, stops and hits from 7 feet, KAH 6-3.Kahuku in man defense, Justin Pratt drives down the middle and is fouled. Kahuku fans booing. Late call, but there was a pileup there. Pratt hits one, 6-4.

Red Raiders run the call from the bench, double high screen, Villa dribbles left (that’s his strong side?) and pulls up from the wing, all net, and the foul. WOW. FT short, KAH 9-4. Udenyi rebounds. He reminds of Christian Okoye,

Udenyi misses a putback, Red Raiders on the run. Villa pushes hard, straight into a backpedaling Udenyi, shot misses, foul called. Villa at the line, hits the first. Here comes the righteous Kiwi, Dan Fotu, with 1:54 left in the first. Last time, he didn’t play until the final 4 minutes of the first half. He just got here a week ago from New Zealand by way of Fiji.

O’Dea drives right at Fotu and scores, no fear, 11-6.

Villa drives hard, trying to draw contact, no call, air ball. Orr drives hard on the break, scores, 11-8. Fotu posts about 15 out on the baseline, drives by his man, travels as the help defender arrives. High-low pass to Headley, layup and DLS is within 11-10.

DLS crowding everyone and Kesi Ah-Hoy decides to drive from near midcourt, spin move and all the way for a layup. Nice move, 13-10. Then he swats a shot by DLS at the buzzer.

End Q1: Kahuku 13, De La Salle 10.

Pre-game The last of today’s eight games will tip off in 12 minutes. Of the three Hawaii teams that reached this quarterfinal round, two have been eliminated: Kailua and ‘Iolani. Kahuku is the last hope for island fans.

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