HPA Dominates Seabury Hall in Div. II Semifinal

By Rodney S. Yap

Hawaii Preparatory Academy dominated the glass and outplayed Seabury Hall en route to a 58-35 semifinal win Friday at Kalani High School Gym.

Seabury, the Maui Interscholastic League Division II champion, suffered its first loss of the season after 15 straight wins and will play Kohala Saturday at 11 a.m. for third place in the Hawaiian Airlines Boys Basketball Championships.

Hawaii Prep will play host school Kalani for the state Division II championship at 5 p.m. Kalani defeated Kohala in Friday’s other semifinal, 70-59.

The Spartans fell behind early, trailing 16-5 at the end of the first quarter when Justas Gecas connected on a 3-pointer as time expired. Gecas led all scorers with 16 points. He also had three assists and three steals.

Hawaii Prep went ahead by as many as 18 in the first half, 32-14, and extended its lead to 23, the final deficit, when reserve player Cole Walter scored his only basket as the buzzer sounded to end the game.

David Ovbagbedia added 14 points and eight rebounds, including six on the defensive glass, for the Kamuela school.

Cameron King struggled offensively, making just 3 of 13 shot attempts from the field. King finished with nine points. Jaxson Stinger added eight points, six rebounds, but he offset his production with eight turnovers.

HAWAII PREP 58, SEABURY HALL 35

SEABURY HALL (15-1)

KING, CAMERON 3-13 0-0 9; STINGER, JAXSON 2-6 4-6 8; HAYLOR, JORDAN 1-3 3-4 5; PAHUKOA, RIP 2-5 0-0 4; HARRISSON, DUNCAN 1-2 0-2 3; BARBIER, BRYCE 1-3 1-4 3; YASHIRO, NYCK 1-4 0-0 2; CHASEN, MICHAEL 0-0 1-2 1; HANISCH, CAMERON 0-1 0-0 0; JENKINS, CHRISTIAN 0-0 0-0 0; PROUTY, FLETCHER 0-0 0-0 0; MALEK, PAXTON 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-37 9-18 35.

HAWAII PREP (15-1)

GECAS, JUSTAS 5-7 5-6 16; OVBAGBEDIA, DAVID 6-14 2-2 14; VEGERTAS, EVALDAS 4-4 1-3 9; PALLESCHI, NICKY 3-7 1-2 8; STINSON, KENJI 2-5 0-0 6; AKAI, HIDE 0-0 3-6 3; WALTER, COLE 1-1 0-0 2; RENFRO, COLIN 0-0 0-0 0; BLECKEL, BO 0-0 0-0 0; YATES, COLIN 0-1 0-0 0; GILLINS, KELLEN 0-1 0-0 0; LEE, VICTOR 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-41 12-19 58.

SEABURY HALL………………    5   11   12    7  –   35

HAWAII PREP……………….   16   16   13   13  –   58

3-point goals–SEABURY HALL 4-10 (KING, CAMERON 3-6; HARRISSON, DUNCAN 1-1; YASHIRO, NYCK 0-1; HANISCH, CAMERON 0-1; STINGER, JAXSON 0-1), HAWAII PREP 4-7 (STINSON, KENJI 2-4; PALLESCHI, NICKY 1-1; GECAS, JUSTAS 1-1; GILLINS, KELLEN 0-1). Fouled out–SEABURY HALL-STINGER, JAXSON, HAWAII PREP-None.

Rebounds–SEABURY HALL 20 (STINGER, JAXSON 6), HAWAII PREP 35 (OVBAGBEDIA, DAVID 8). Assists–SEABURY HALL 8 (STINGER, JAXSON 2; PAHUKOA, RIP 2), HAWAII PREP 7 (GECAS, JUSTAS 3). Total fouls–SEABURY HALL 19, HAWAII PREP 15. Technical fouls–SEABURY HALL-None, HAWAII PREP-None.