Baldwin High School’s Dylan Kuia goes up for a dunk on a fast break during the third quarter of the Bears’ 56-54 victory over Kamehameha Maui in the MIL Division I tournament final Tuesday night at the Lahainaluna gym. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
LAHAINA — This one started ominously for the Baldwin High School boys basketball team, but it turned around with lightning quickness.
A few different times.
Baldwin fell behind 8-0 before tearing off a 27-4 run to take control in an eventual 56-54 win over Kamehameha Maui in the Central Pacific Bank/Maui Interscholastic League Division I tournament final to clinch the league title.
Baldwin (12-2) advances to the Heide & Cook/HHSAA state tournament quarterfinals Feb. 22 on Oahu. The Warriors (9-5) will host a first-round game on Feb. 19.
The Bears led by 19 points going into the fourth quarter before Dylan Schnitzer scored 21 of his 23 points in the final stanza for the Warriors to make it close — they tied the score twice late in the game before Laa Manangan scored on a drive to the hoop to give the Bears their final lead, 56-54, with 26 seconds to go.
Trotter Apo of Baldwin follows through on a first-quarter 3-pointer Tuesday. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
That was one night after Schnitzer scored 20 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter of a come-from-behind semifinal win over Lahainaluna to clinch a state berth for the Warriors.
“We had our set play and I just went through with it,” Manangan said with the MIL gold medal draped around his neck after finishing with 14 points. “It worked out in my favor. I’m just glad we have a championship.”
A state final four team in 2022, Baldwin missed the state tournament last season after a season-ending, final-second loss to the Warriors in the MIL tournament semifinals.
The Warriors started Tuesday’s game on an 8-0 run, with six of the points coming from Kamahiwa Molitau. The Bears answered with a 12-0 run, which finished on a nifty fast-break finish by Jayden Torres-Leeber off a fancy pass from Manangan.
The Bears led 14-12 after one quarter and stretched the lead to 19-12 on a 3 by Dylan Kuia, prompting a timeout from Kamehameha Maui coach Evan Garces with 6:22 to go in the first half. Just 24 seconds later, Apo nailed another corner 3 to up the Bears’ lead to 10.
Kamehameha Maui’s Kanekoa Maielua-Kekiwi defends a second-quarter shot by Baldwin’s Casey Talana. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
Manangan made a free throw before Evan Manarpaac’s runner in the lane and Torres-Leeber’s bucket inside pushed the lead to 27-12.
Zachary Pratt’s 3 stopped the Bears’ 27-4 run and brought the Warriors within 12. Kuia’s contested elbow jumper banked in at the buzzer to give the Bears a 32-17 lead at halftime.
The lead grew to 46-27 at the end of the third quarter after a 3 by Apo.
“When we were way up I thought we had a good pace, but I didn’t think it was over and I knew that they had a chance to come back, but we just fought our hearts out,” Manangan said. “I’m just glad that we all worked together to get this dub.
“I was worried, but I was confident we still had it in the bag.”
Kamehameha Maui’s Kanekoa Maielua-Kekiwi defends a second-quarter shot by Baldwin’s Casey Talana. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
For the second night in a row, Schnitzer went to work in the fourth quarter.
Kamehameha Maui closed within 52-42 on a 3 by Schnitzer with 2:31 to play, bringing a timeout from Baldwin coach Jordan Helle. Schnitzer hit another 3 a few seconds later before completing a three-point play with 1:52 left to make it 52-48.
Schnitzer then stole the inbounds pass and scored to bring the Warriors within 52-50, giving him eight points in about 15 seconds of game time.
Schnitzer tied the game on a drive to the hoop with 1:30 to go before Manangan scored inside to give the lead back to the Bears 54-52 with 1:05 left.
Kamehameha Maui’s Cody Gardanier scored after fighting for an offensive rebound to tie the score again with 43 seconds left before Manangan provided the winning points with 26 seconds to go.
The Warriors’ Dylan Schnitzer launches a 3-point attempt in the second quarter. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
Manangan then stole the inbounds pass and was fouled by Schnitzer with 23 seconds left — he missed both free throws.
The Warriors missed four shots on their final possession to settle for second place one year after winning the MIL title for the first time in nearly two decades.
“That’s been a tendency of ours to fall behind and we can’t do that against a team like Baldwin, but obviously a lot of credit to Baldwin, they played really well all year,” Garces said after the Warriors fell to the Bears for the fourth time in four tries this season. “We haven’t been able to win one game from them. Hats off to our boys, they fought, stayed in the game and we fought back.”
Manangan tipped his cap to Schnitzer.
“He’s great, he’s crazy, he just heats up, he’s just the most athletic guy in the whole MIL right now,” Manangan said. “Yeah, he’s just different.”
Apo finished with 14 points and Kuia chipped in 11 points for the Bears, who now have a two-week break before playing at states.
“Man, you know, Kamehameha is so tough,” Helle said. “We just knew they had a run in them and thankfully our boys — they’ve been in so many of these pressure situations — some of our veterans, they carried us over the finish line.”
* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com
KAMEHAMEHA MAUI (9-5)
Noah Kalehuawehe 2, Kanekoa Maielua-Kekiwi 3, Zachary Pratt 3, Kolten Waikiki-Caldeira 0, Kamahiwa Molitau 8, Cody Gardanier 5, Dylan Schnitzer 23, Imaikalani Kramer 8, Ka’imi Kahalekai 2.
BALDWIN (11-2)
Xyler Nakamura 2, Laa Manangan 14, Chaz Villados 1, Evan Manarpaac 4, Casey Talana 6, Jayden Torres-Leeber 4, Dylan Kuia 11, Trotter Apo 14.
Kamehameha Maui1251027–54
Baldwin14181410–56
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