Kohala Boys Basketball: O’Shen Cazimero

Kohala freshman O’Shen Cazimero tends to sneak up on people, especially when he goes off on a scoring tear.

He scored 35 points to spark the Cowboys to a 79-62 win over Honokaa at the Hilo High/Holiday Prep Classic on Friday at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

Cazimero could be the next in line of the great guards at Kohala, where the rise of uptempo basketball starts with the guy running the point. When the Cowboys have a great one, they’re a BIIF title contender, playing a press defense and running up and down the floor.

The last great one was Kealen Figueroa, who was the BIIF Division II player of the year in 2014. He followed in the footsteps of Brandon Bautista, who led the Cowboys to three straight titles from 2007 to ’09.

Figueroa used to watch Bautista played, and Cazimero has followed tradition. He used to watch both of those floor-running Cowboys.

“When I was growing up, I used to watch them,” said Cazimero, who’s the son of former Kohala sharp-shooter Reeve Cazimero. “From them, I learned to play hard, play defense, and never give up and stay competitive.”

It was a significant win for the Cowboys, who’ll likely meet the Dragons down the road in the BIIF postseason.

Kohala repeatedly broke Honokaa’s full-court press and swooped in for easy layups. Cazimero was usually the one directing the offense. He dropped in six layups, taking his defender off the dribble and attacking the rim when someone face-guarded him.

Like his father, he’s got a smooth shooting touch. Cazimero drained two 3-pointers and went 9 of 9 from the free throw line. He credited his scoring output to his teammates.

“It’s from my teammates,” he said. “They gave me the ball, I got looks and finished off plays.”

In the second quarter, Cazimero went off on a nine-point scoring spree, which hit the Dragons before they could blink.

He started with a layup, followed with another and was fouled, sank his free throw and got fouled again. He buried two more free throws. Yamasaki scored to interrupt the scoring eruption. Then Cazimero went back to work.

Off a miss, Cazimero ran the floor, felt Honokaa breathing down his neck, and drilled a pull-up jumper at the elbow. It was suddenly 28-21, with Kohala ahead, and the momentum had been flipped like a switch.

Elijah Antonio added nine points, and Dawstin Hoopai had eight points for the Cowboys, who feasted on Honokaa’s 38 turnovers.

Isaac Jardine scored interior baskets and went 8 of 10 from the free throw line. Kaleb Yamasaki added 17 points, and Austin Gonzales had 12 points for the Dragons, who had difficulty fronting Cazimero, whose best asset is making his teammates better.

“He helps settle down his teammates,” Kohala coach Don Fernandez said. “He’s creative on offense. H e can penetrate and dish, and he frees up other players from doing too much.

“He’s a lot like the other point guards (Bautista and Figueroa) we’ve had in the past. He works hard.”

Cazimero spends his offseason refining his game. He plays for NSP, coached by Jason Mandaquit, and Shutdown, coached by Benny Alcoran in Kona.

The best piece advice he received from his dad was to focus on defense. That’s a theme for the Cowboys, whose T-shirts feature the old slogan: Defense wins championships.

That’s true, but it doesn’t hurt to have a scoring machine, like Cazimero at their disposal.

By KEVIN JAKAHI Hawaii Tribune-Herald