Photo courtesy of Coach Mea Wong
Closing the Book: Kamehameha-Hawaii (16-9, 8-4 BIIF)
> vs. Top 10: 0-5 (.000)
> Top 10 wins: None
> Top 10 losses: WAIK, KOH, HPA, MS, MOA
> Non-Top 10 losses: HIL, IOL, Thunder Mt., HBA
> Home: 4-2
> Away: 5-2
> Neutral: 7-5
> Playoffs: 2-0
> HHSAA: 0-2
One constant in the history of the Keaau campus of Kamehameha Schools is boys basketball.
The 2019-20 Kamehameha-Hawaii Warriors sometimes did the unthinkable. They did it, as they always have, in the fire of the toughest battles. The Warriors reached the pinnacle of the BIIF, winning the league’s Division I championship as Coach Mea Wong and staff completed their third season.
Perhaps the most amazing feat was traveling to Kealakehe, a 2.5-hour drive on a good day, to stun Hilo in a semifinal matchup. Then, they completed the task by toppling Konawaena for the league title and the second state-tourney berth.
Two weeks later, the Warriors played without leading scorer Izayah Chartrand-Penera and lost to eventual back-to-back state champion Maryknoll in the opening round. After a loss to OIA champion Moanalua in consolation play, the Warriors were done for the season.
“This season was a roller coaster,” Coach Wong said on Tuesday. “It wasn’t a bad one, but it was a roller coaster for sure.”
The preseason began with wins over Parker and Honokaa at Honokaa’s tournament just after Thanksgiving.
“At that point in the season, we don’t have an identity yet. In my mind, it was kind of a coin flip. I know we’re going to compete and defend, but will we have the legs to last four quarters. No matter how much you practice, you can’t simulate a game,” Wong said.
Nine days later, they opened the BIIF season at Hilo, losing 53-45. That same week, the Warriors played in St. Joseph’s longstanding Cardinal Classic tourney. KS-Hawaii lost to ‘Iolani (45-32), and defeated Pahoa (59-36) and Maui (45-32).
“Izayah started to figure it out. He had to become a leader. We always like to figure out where we measure against the better teams in the state. That was a mini roller coaster right there in a week, having a league game and a preseason tournament. In my mind, I prepare for season games and preseason games differently as far as establishing a rotation,” Wong said.
A week later, another tough road game. The Warriors lost to title favorite Waiakea, 61-51.
“No excuses. We had four players foul out in the game. A tough loss, but as a coach and looking forward, we were right there with who we felt was the best team and the best player on the island,” Wong said.
The day after Christmas, the Warriors boarded a plane and landed in Honolulu for the Punahou Invitational. They lost 57-44 to Thunder Mountain (Alaska), which went on to win its 4A regional championship for the first time in five years. The Falcons’ season came to a premature halt on Mar. 13 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the Alaska state tournament.
“We let the same things hurt us over and over. It’s early so we weren’t adjust to game speed until it was too late,” Wong recalled.
KS-Hawaii rebounded with a 49-40 win over Hamamatsu Tech (Japan, then lost a 77-75 overtime thriller against Hawaii Baptist.
“That was a track meet. I remember they shot the ball really well,” Wong said of HBA. “Both teams down the stretch hit some unbelievable clutch shots. We’re down 3 and Izayah knocks down the 3 at the buzzer and we go to overtime. We’re up one, they lose the ball, recover and kick it to a shooter on the top right wing, I forget his name, he killed us. He hits the 3 to beat us at the buzzer.”
The Warriors closed out the Punahou tourney with a 66-58 win over Hanalani, a team that went on to win the ILH D-II title. HBA finished third in the same division.
“We had a jam-packed schedule. We were up later, not sleeping in our own beds. So the days after the grind were definitely helpful,” Wong said. “That’s where I felt we started to get on track and getting back up the roller coaster. At this point, we have an identity. Players know their roles. They figure out their roles.”
They returned home before New Year’s and had a week to prepare for the rest of the BIIF slate. Keaau, St. Joseph, Pahoa and Honokaa lined up and fell against the Warriors, now 4-2 in league play. Then another tough-as-nails road trip to Konawaena on Jan. 17. The Warriors pulled out a 52-50 win on Chartrand-Penera’s last-second bucket.
"I’m always glass half full. I was very confident in our squad. We had some good practices. We had enough done at that time to know what to run and be effective. Defensively, we figured out our man-to-man defense. Chartrand hit a layup at the buzzer to win the game,” Wong said.
KS-Hawaii played this game without Kaupena Yasso, a key scorer in the paint.
“Earlier, we were playing bigger, so we had to go smaller (without Yasso), pick up the pace a little bit. (Konawaena was our first game like this,” Wong said. “Braedy (Yamada), a sophomore, hit some big shots. Our other sophomore, Christian (Saiki, 6-3), had solid minutes off bench.”
Yasso missed four games in all, and the Warriors dropped two of them. One was a 55-53 home loss to Kohala and the other was 51-50 home loss to Hawaii Prep. Kohala and HPA went on to represent the BIIF at the D-II state tourney. HPA won the BIIF title, but Kohala prevailed as state champion.
“Kaupena’s our best shooter. Even if he’s not scoring, he’s still a threat. He’s one of the better shooters on the Big Island. If I sub in a defender for ‘Pena, we lack some offense against Kohala. The same with HPA, which slowed the game down. Kaupena would’ve provided us a little more offense,” Wong said.
KS-Hawaii bounced back with wins over Parker and Ka‘u. Then came a crucial matchup at Kealakehe in the regular-season finale. The Warriors held on for a 59-51 victory to clinch second place.
“The win at Kealakehe was on their senior night. They had people dancing on the court. That was one of the biggest crowds I’ve seen there. That had playoff implications. We needed that win,” Wong said.
Waiakea, the top seed, clinched a state berth and paired off with fourth-place Konawaena in the first round of playoffs. KS-Hawaii met longtime rival Hilo in the other matchup and won, 75-60. That’s a long drive to the west side of the island for each team on a school day.
“The playoffs Tuesday and Wednesday at Kealakehe. Hilo, this time, our rotation was different. I felt like we were prepared. We watched a ton of film. We follow people all season and we were prepared for what they ran all year,” Wong noted.
Then, the Warriors boarded the bus and made the long haul back to the KS-Hawaii campus. But instead of heading back their individual homes, they did something different rather than spend another 15, 30 or 45 minutes on the road.
“The day before I’m scrambling. Jeff Law, our associate AD, I asked how hard it would be to have a sleepover on our campus. We stayed on campus. Pizza, chocolate milk, fruit, stretching. cut down on the driving time. We want to watch film, and you can’t do that on the bus ride. so we just stayed in the aerobic room,” Wong said. “(On Wednesday), they had school all day. We left campus, 2:30 pm.”
With a state-tournament berth and BIIF title on the line, the Warriors arrived at Kealakehe to meet Konawaena, which had upset Waiakea the night before. KS-Hawaii outlasted the Wildcats, 56-46. They were in the state tourney.
“We were riding high on the roller coaster. We played really well. Kaupena shot the ball really well the whole tournament. We just outplayed Konawaena. We have a lot of the same tools, similar styles. That’s a well-respected program over there,” Wong said.
The news of Chartrand-Penera was a gut punch. The senior was suspended by the school from playing in the state tournament for violating an undisclosed rule. Two weeks after the BIIF title game, KS-Hawaii lost to Maryknoll, the ILH runner-up, 61-32, at Moanalua’s gym.
They fared better in a loss to Moanalua one day later, but the absence of Chartrand-Penera, who averaged 21 points per game in league play, was immeasurable.
“It’s difficult, man. We go through this whole grind. He’s a senior, the whole year, he’s a leader. I still have to convince my players and staff that I believe we’re going to win without him. I’m not stupid. I know the mountain to climb Maryknoll is a big mountain. Every day at the end of practice, remember, in gyms around the world, teams are getting upset in every state, in every class, teams get upset, so why not us? Have the underdog mentality,” Wong said.
Maryknoll had just gotten past Kalaheo in overtime, 49-41, to reach the quarterfinal round.
“Maryknoll is a great team with a great coach, a great point guard. I was at Kamehameha when Kelly (Grant) was at Kaimuki. Keone Reyes took us out. We were up in the fourth quarter and ended up losing,” said Wong, recalling the 2007 state tournament.
Kaimuki went on to win the state crown. Kamehameha-Hawaii reached that semifinal round in ’07 and lost to Punahou in the state final in ’08. The Warriors reached the final four in ’12, but hasn’t ventured that far again since.
“For our young guys, how I’ve been coached by Nelson Wong, every year, getting there with the same group of guys, get closer and closer to a championship. How often can you get there? It’s difficult,” Wong said.
Coach Wong chatted about his team and the future.
This season was ________.
Wong: “This season was a roller coaster. It wasn’t a bad one, but it was a roller coaster for sure.”
This season was the movie ________.
Wong: "It felt like an Avengers movie. We had to assemble together and when we overcame an opponent, there was Thanos ready to snap his fingers."
Review: Starters and key rotation/role players
Izayah Chartrand-Penera, 21 ppg BIIF, 18 ppg overall, 6-0, Sr.
Wong: “He got a lot stronger in the offseason. He really focused on his strength. That helped him when he attacked the basket. He was better able to take contact. So teams couldn’t take teams away from him. Sometimes we’d post him up and he was shooting the 3 really well. When we ran plays for him, he executed them almost every time. When we needed a 3 on a pin down or a big shot, he hit it. Good leader, hardest worker at practice. Great, long and quick defender. If he had to guard a big, he was long enough.
“Moving forward, he’s just got to tighten up on everything he does. Get quicker on his shot, his handles. At the next level, he needs to figure out his niche. Best shooter? Defender? 3-and-D player? I think at the next level he could be a 3-and-D player.”
Kaupena Yasso, 12 ppg BIIF, 6-1, Jr.
Wong: “He’s a 250-pound shooting guard. He has a quick release, a soft touch. He is a gym rat. He lives in a basketball gym. If we have a game Friday night, Saturday morning he’ll in the county gym working out. He’s always working. If we could get him to 230, he’ll be a problem for a lot of people. We’re encouraging him to play football. He’s going to have to be a leader for us, and it’s not his personality. That’s what I’d want, for him to grow in that area, be a little more vocal with his teammates, more of a leader. He’s a jokester. He’s funny. During drills, he kicks everyone’s butt. I’d like him to learn to draw the line in the sand.”
Darius Olloway, 10 ppg, 6-3, So.
Wong: “He progressed a lot over the year. Having his length, he learned that you don’t need to block every shot. You can alter shots and it’s more effective. He’s really hard on himself, which can be good and bad. He doesn’t like to make mistakes and he pushes himself to be good. He’s got to be stronger. My goal is not just to get you ready for my program, but if you’re good enough, to play at the next level. At 6-3, he’s not going to be a 5, so hopefully he’ll square up, face the rim and have his back to the basket if the mismatch is there next season. Bigger, faster, stronger.”
Koby Tabuyo-Kahele, 6-0, Jr.
Wong: “One of the things about him is he’s so even keeled. We got Darius hard on himself, Izayah is a caged lion. Koby’s the steady head. If you’re down or up 20, you don’t know looking at him. That was our biggest strength from him. He provided balance. I’d like him to be more versatile offensively and become a better on-ball defender. He’s a quarterback.”
Ridge Ishii, 5-9, Sr.
Wong: “Ridge is a baseball player. He was our athlete and defensive guy. I could trust him. He’s the loyal one. The hardest worker, winning every sprint, was at every workout. This was the first year he played varsity basketball. Him and Izayah made a bet that if Ridge tried out for basketball, Izayah would try out for baseball. Ridge worked his butt off.”
Joshua Luiz, 5-8, Jr.
Wong: “He’s a defensive specialist. He anticipates passing lanes well. He’s super quick, really, really quick. His a footwork style defender, not just relying on speed. He’s a safety.”
Braedy Yamada, 5-10, So.
Wong: “Kind of a point guard and shooting guard. He’ll be a combo guard for us the next two years.”
Did the rotation change?
Wong: “After Kaupena came back, he was the first guy off the bench. It depended on how quickly a starter would get fouls. If you lost your role, someone else earns it.”
Who or what surprised you most?
Wong: “Honestly, I didn’t think Izayah would become that good of an offensive player for us. Three years ago, we knew he would be good, but he carried a big role for us this year. I don’t like to rely on one person so much, but it turned out that way. He dominated the Big Island.”
What were the most adverse challenges?
Wong: “Getting kids to believe that playing simple basketball works. Simplifying basketball for this generation, becoming really good at being simple, that’s when we executed offensively and defensively.”
What was the peak and what was the low?
Wong: “The peak was obviously winning league. The low, shucks, for me it was losing to Maryknoll.”
What will you miss about this group?
Wong: “I’ll miss the seniors. This group, we just had a good time. I’ll miss our bond off the court. We were a lot closer than the previous teams. This group clicked as a whole and that doesn’t always happen.”
What are you anticipating for offseason and next year?
Wong: “It’s the Big Island, so we have to get creative. Hopefully, by June, Kamehameha will let us back in the gym. We really have to focus on the weight room. I’ve got guys playing in clubs already in the offseason. If we focus on building their strength, we can supplement what they’re doing. I was planning to come to Honolulu to play some ILH teams this summer. If not this year, definitely next year.
“I know of some (players coming up), but I don’t know if they’re going to be ready. One freshman coming up, he’ll help us. He’s 6 feet tall already. He’ll be a good guard. I’m biased, but he reminds me of myself. He’s fearless.”
The BIIF
“HPA gets most (of its players) back. Kohala everybody (returns). Waiakea loses their monsters (Keegan Scanlan and Kiai Apele). Hilo graduates a couple, I think three starters. It’s too early to tell now, but I think it’ll be a typical Big Island season. Eventually, people separate themselves. We still play all D-I and D-II teams. Kohala and HPA will be tough gets for anybody on the Big Island. We’ll be a tough get because of our size. Kona’s always good. They always find themselves in the hunt at the end because of the history of that program.”
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