Thomas’ Hot Hand Lifts Baldwin Over Mililani

Baldwin’s Philip Thomas scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Bears defeated Mililani on Friday, 63-54. File photo by Rodney S. Yap.

By Rodney S. Yap

Baldwin High School’s Philip Thomas continued to find his groove Friday against Mililani, finishing with a double-double — 20 points and 10 rebounds — in the Bears’ 63-54 victory at the Neal Blaisdell Arena.

The win puts Baldwin in Saturday’s fifth-place game of the Hawaiian Airlines Boys Basketball Championships against Big Island champion Konawaena, beginning at 1 p.m. The Wildcats advanced by eliminating Lahainaluna, 69-49.

Baldwin, the Maui Interscholastic League Division I champions, improved to 14-2 (17-4 overall) and rebounded from Thursday’s 66-61 loss to Maryknoll. Thomas had 17 points against the Spartans, making 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.

With low-post icon Teva Eldridge nursing an injury, Thomas’ inspired play at both ends of the court proved to be a welcome blessing. In 30-minutes of work, Thomas’ linescore against the Trojans included 7-of-9 shooting with four 3-pointers, two steals, one block and one assist.

Baldwin outscored Mililani 13-5 in the second quarter to lead 25-18 at halftime.

Ryan Garces finished with a game-high 21 points, point guard Kody Takushi added eight and Josiah Maglente contributed 10 rebounds.

Mililani (15-4) was led by Cody Sison’s 17 points and Noel Bueno had 11.

Konawaena scored 34 points off Lahainaluna turnovers, compared to eight for the Lunas, to improved to 21-3. Meanwhile, Lahainaluna’s season came to and end at 9-8.

Cyrus Kama had a team-high 13 points for the Lunas, seven rebounds, four blocks and one steal. Lahainaluna committed 27 turnovers to Konawaena’s 12.

The Wildcats led 32-17 at halftime.

BALDWIN BEARS 63, MILILANI TROJANS 54

BALDWIN BEARS (14-2)

GARCES,RYAN 9-16 2-3 21; THOMAS,PHILIP 7-9 2-4 20; TAKUSHI,KODY 3-7 0-0 8; MAGLENTE,JOSIAH 2-8 2-2 6; BADILLO,JEREMIAH 0-1 3-4 3; AKAKA,TAJE 1-4 1-1 3; BALANTAC,SAM 1-2 0-0 2; WAKE,LIAM 0-1 0-0 0; CORPIN,NIKO 0-1 0-0 0; KALAMA,Kelii 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 10-14 63.

MILILANI TROJANS (15-4)

SISON,Cody 5-10 7-8 17; BUENO,Noel 4-11 1-2 11; BUTLER,Elijah 3-11 2-4 8; NAMU,Ian 3-4 2-4 8; FIELDS,Kekoa 2-5 0-1 4; ROZMESKI,Jeremy 1-4 0-0 3; GAMBOL,Elijah 1-4 0-0 2; ROSARIO,Braiden 0-0 1-2 1; GRIFF,Logan 0-0 0-0 0; ZIEGLER,James 0-0 0-0 0; LOW,Jacob 0-1 0-0 0; FITZGERALD,Sean 0-1 0-0 0; ORPILLIA,John 0-1 0-0 0; NISHIMURA,Kingston 0-0 0-0 0; MUH,Cameron 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-52 13-21 54.

Baldwin Bears……………..   12   13   14   24  –   63

Mililani Trojans…………..   13    5   18   18  –   54

3-point goals–Baldwin Bears 7-15 (THOMAS,PHILIP 4-6; TAKUSHI,KODY 2-6; GARCES,RYAN 1-2; CORPIN,NIKO 0-1), Mililani Trojans 3-7 (BUENO,Noel 2-4; ROZMESKI,Jeremy 1-2; SISON,Cody 0-1). Fouled out–Baldwin Bears-None, Mililani Trojans-None. Rebounds–Baldwin Bears 36 (MAGLENTE,JOSIAH 10; THOMAS,PHILIP 10), Mililani Trojans 30 (NAMU,Ian 8; BUTLER,Elijah 8).

Assists–Baldwin Bears 15 (TAKUSHI,KODY 3; BADILLO,JEREMIAH 3), Mililani Trojans 7 (ROZMESKI,Jeremy 2; GAMBOL,Elijah 2). Total fouls–Baldwin Bears 17, Mililani Trojans 15. Technical fouls–Baldwin Bears-None, Mililani Trojans-GAMBOL,Elijah.

KONAWAENA WILDCATS 69, LAHAINALUNA LUNAS 49

KONAWAENA WILDCATS (21-3)

TAKAKI,Chase 6-15 0-0 15; HOWES,Cameron 3-6 5-6 11; MEDERIOS,Kevin 4-6 0-0 11; AWA,Brandon 2-8 5-8 9; CHING,Reyson 0-5 7-8 7; HANATO-SMITH,Pookela 2-4 2-2 6; BREDESON,Jonah 1-2 1-2 3; EDMUND,Eric 1-2 0-0 2; GRAY,Tanner 0-4 2-2 2; KANE,Kupono 1-3 0-0 2; AUKAI,Austin 0-1 1-2 1; GRAY,Zane 0-3 0-0 0; MALONE,Ryan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-59 23-30 69.

LAHAINALUNA LUNAS (9-8)

KAMA,Cyrus 6-9 1-3 13; CORPUZ,Joshua 2-5 3-3 8; TAUFA,Penisimani 1-4 5-6 7; CHAPITAL,Josh 1-7 4-6 7; VIERRA,Nicolas 2-6 1-2 6; KAAIKALA,Kalalani 2-4 0-0 4; MADERA,Ryan 1-4 0-0 2; AGAPAY,Brandon 1-2 0-0 2; THOREBECK,Willem 0-2 0-0 0; MEDEIROS-TANGITAILOA 0-1 0-0 0; CARLTON,Zac 0-0 0-0 0; CORPUZ,Renzo 0-2 0-0 0; SIDON,Marvin 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 16-51 14-20 49.

Konawaena Wildcats…………   11   21   22   15  –   69

Lahainaluna Lunas………….    7   10   11   21  –   49

3-point goals–Konawaena Wildcats 6-17 (TAKAKI,Chase 3-6; MEDERIOS,Kevin 3-5; AWA,Brandon 0-2; HANATO-SMITH,Pookela 0-1; BREDESON,Jonah 0-1; KANE,Kupono 0-1; HOWES,Cameron 0-1), Lahainaluna Lunas 3-23 (VIERRA,Nicolas 1-4; CORPUZ,Joshua 1-3; CHAPITAL,Josh 1-3; MADERA,Ryan 0-2; AGAPAY,Brandon 0-1; THOREBECK,Willem 0-2; MEDEIROS-TANGITAILOA 0-1; CORPUZ,Renzo 0-2; SIDON,Marvin 0-4; TAUFA,Penisimani 0-1). Fouled out–Konawaena Wildcats-None, Lahainaluna Lunas-None. Rebounds–Konawaena Wildcats 36 (CHING,Reyson 9), Lahainaluna Lunas 44 (KAMA,Cyrus 7). Assists–Konawaena Wildcats 14 (AWA,Brandon 5), Lahainaluna Lunas 11 (CHAPITAL,Josh 5). Total fouls–Konawaena Wildcats 16, Lahainaluna Lunas 21. Technical fouls–Konawaena Wildcats-None, Lahainaluna Lunas-None.