Photography by Rick Ogata, story by Miranda Ogata | Special to Hawaii 24/7

St. Joseph 18 16 11 15 - 60
Kealakehe  17 11 10 11 - 49

From the very start, Saturday’s (Dec 12) game between the St Joseph Cardinals and the Kealakehe Waveriders was a battle of wills and determination. The Cardinals controlled the opening tip and sped out to a 10-2 lead. With tenacious defense the Waveriders fought back and tied the game up. The two teams traded the lead until Cardinal Sebastian Ohara-Saft took the last shot and the lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, a lay-up and a quick jumper after a stolen ball took the Cardinals to a 5 point lead, which was extended to 7 points on Jacob Andrade’s 3-pointer. Hard hits on both sides of the court kept the game intense and strong offense by St Joseph took the game to 28-34 at halftime.

The second half opened with strong defense from both teams, as neither team scored for over three minutes, before St Joseph’s Devyn Monberg hit a free throw to end the Cardinal drought. Deion Utrera finally put an end to Kealakehe’s scoreless run with a lay-up with just over four minutes left in the quarter. Kealakehe fought back to a 5-point deficit before a 3-point line foul put Monberg on the line. Sinking 2 shots put St Joseph ahead 45-38.

Kealakehe picked up the intensity in the fourth quarter to get to within 7 points before both teams suffered a scoring drought that lasted minutes. Andrade nailed another 3-pointer with four minutes left and Jacob Ontiveros took the cover off the Kealakehe basket with just over 3 minutes remaining. The final minutes of the game were slower paced with each team scoring only a few more points before the buzzer rang on a 60-49 first place victory by the Cardinal.

Kealakehe’s high scorers were Thomas Naehu with 18 points, Jacob Ontiveros with 12 points, and Deion Utrera with 10. St Joseph’s Jacob Andrade had a game-high 32 points.

St Joseph took first place in the 4th Annual Cardinal-Warrior Basketball Classic, with Kealakehe in second, Keaau taking third, and Waiakea in fourth place.