Pearl City moves to 2-0 with 45-36 win over Mililani

Jan 6, 2013 | PC Sports

 

It's still early, but the Pearl City Chargers are showing signs that they will be a force to be reckoned with in the OIA Boys Varsity Basketball Red Western Division after defeating the visiting Mililani Trojans last night 45-36.

The Chargers sit atop their division tied with Kapolei at 2-0. Mililani fell to 0-2 with the loss to the Chargers.

MyPearlCity.com spoke to Chargers Head Coach Lionel Villarmia about tonight's match-up with Mililani following Thursday's win over Campbell to open the regular season. Coach Villarmia was preparing to face the Trojans zone defense but the Trojans switched their strategy on Saturday going to man-to-man that forced the Chargers to make the adjustment early on.

"I'm surprised, they played us man-to-man almost the whole game tonight," said Coach Villarmia. "They have real good athletes and in the beginning we didn't execute. We didn't play to what we work on, so some guys had to sit. The second team woke us up."

The Chargers used the speed and quickness of their guards to move the ball up and down the court and keep the Trojans on their toes.

"We have good guards, we have quick guards," Villarmia said. "Sometime too quick, the trigger goes too fast on the offensive end where they know on the defensive end their going to get one or two steals, but we're trying to be more on the discipline side. I don't want to rely on just our speed and quickness."

The Chargers are prepared to face whatever their opponents throw at them after competing in a lengthy pre-season schedule that included sixteen pre-season games.

"In the regular season we're only going to play ten games," Coach Villarmia said. "We played sixteen pre-season games and we played all the top D1 from the ILH, so we've seen everything."

As the Chargers move deeper into their regular season schedule, key players will be counted on to step up and lead the Chargers if they plan to be OIA play-off contenders. Two Chargers who fit the role so far are Sonny Glisson at point guard and Tyson Hickcox at center.

"Sonny Glisson is starting to read, he's going to stabilize us as well as Tyson Hickcox at center. Tyson works hard."

Hickcox led the Chargers on Saturday against the Trojans with 12 points. Glisson pumped in 6 points.

Peter Bueno scored 12 points, which included one 3-pointer to lead the Trojans followed by Kekoa Fields with 10 points.

Scoring Summary:

1st Quarter

The Chargers and Trojans traded the lead throughout the first quarter with Trojans coming out on top 14-13 on a basket by Jacob Low as time expired.

2nd Quarter

The Trojans opened the second quarter with a couple baskets by Peter Bueno that gave the Trojans an 18-13 lead. Pearl City came back to tie the game at 18-18 and move ahead 19-18 on a pair of free throws by Sonny Glisson with 4:02 on the clock. The Trojans got the lead back at 20-19 on a basket by Kekoa Fields. Tyson Hickcox tied the game at 20-20 and gave the Chargers the lead at 21-20 after converting two of two free throws with 3:05 remaining in the quarter. Daicorri Briscoe's bucket increased the Chargers lead to 23-20. Mililani came right back to tie the game at 23-23 on a 3-pointer by Jason Calabrese. Mililani broke the 23-23 tie on a 3-pointer by Peter Bueno at the buzzer to give the Trojans a 26-23 halftime lead.

3rd Quarter

Tyson Hickcox pulled the Chargers within one point of the lead at 26-25 on a pair of the free throws. Kekoa Fields scored to put the Trojans up 28-25 at 4:50 remaining in the quarter. Pearl City scored on a basket by Reymart Rosario to close within one point at 28-27 with 3:55 on the clock. Sonny Glisson put Pearl City in front 29-28 on a pair of free throws at 2:54. Pearl City came back to go up 31-28 on lay-up by Isaac Amorin. Glisson increased the Chargers lead to 33-28 after converting a pair free throws. Bricen Shafer scored to put the Chargers up 35-28. The Chargers pulled away to a nine point lead 37-28 on a basket by Hickcox with :10 on the clock. Chedan Pascual dropped three free throws to pull the Trojans within six points at 37-31 to end the third quarter.

4th Quarter

Mililani's Noel Bueno converting one of two free throw to close within five points of the Chargers at 37-32. Cody Sison pulled the Trojans closer at 37-33 after hitting one of two a free throw attempts. Reymart Rosario put the Chargers up 39-33 on lay-up with 7:00 on the clock. Zach Kaya put the Chargers up 41-33 on a basket with 5:10 on the clock. Pearl City's Tyson Hickcox dropped in a basket with 4:25 on the clock to increase the Chargers lead to 43-33. Sonny Glisson added a free throw to go up 44-33. The Trojans came back and scored on a free throw by Peter Bueno, 44-34. Elijah Gambol scored the final basket for Trojans at 1:27 of the quarter. Mililani trailed 44-36. Reymart Rosario hit one of two free throws to put the Chargers up 45-36 and end all scoring.

Next up for Coach Villarmia and his Chargers is a match-up with Leilehua on the road on Wednesday, January 9.

"Leilehua is another tough one," Villarmia said. "Leilehua is athletic, they have good size. We've seen them in the Radford tournament and the St. Louis tournament. It's going to be a good one."

Leilehua is 1-1 in league play.

Go Chargers!

 

Scoring:

 

Mililani – Chedan Pascual 5, Jeremy Rozmeski 0, Jason Calabrese 3, Peter Bueno 12, Cody Sison 1, Elijah Gambol 2, Jacob Low 2, Noel Bueno 1, James Ziegler 0, Kekoa Fields 10.

Pearl City – Isaac Amorin 5, Reymart Rosario 6, Tyson Hickcox 12, Zach Kaya 4, Sonny Glisson 6, Daicorri Briscoe 2, Bricen Shafer 2, Shandy Reyes 5, Joshua Cubi 1, Bryson Galderia 2.

@ Pearl City High School

Mililani (league 0-2)         14    12     5    5     36

Pearl City (league 2-0)     13   10   13    9     45

                                                              Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]

Pearl City's #12 Tyson Hickcox pictured at the free throw line in the second quarter. Hickcox tied the game at 20-20 and gave the Chargers the lead at 21-20 after converting two of two free throws late in the quarter.  Hickcox led the Chargers with 12 points which included 5 points from the line.

                                                              Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]

Mililani's #14 Peter Bueno drops a 3-pointer to break a 23-23 tie and put the Trojans up 26-23 as time expired in the second quarter. Bueno finished with 12 points to lead the Trojans scoring.

                                                              Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]

Mililani's #35 Kekoa Fields scored 10 points for the Trojans. Fields is pictured here being guarded by Pearl City's Daicorri Briscoe in the first half.

                                                              Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]

Reymart Rosario puts the Chargers up 39-33 on lay-up with 7:00 on the clock in the fourth quarter. Rosario finished with 6 points.

                                                              Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]

Sonny Glisson pictured at the free throw line late in the fourth quarter. Glisson put the Chargers up 44-33 after converting one of two free throws. Glisson finished the game with 6 points which included one 3-pointer.