Kamaka Hepa is riding a heater in Croatia.

The pro basketball player from Utqiaġvik recorded a season-high 21 points for red-hot Cibona in an 84-74 win over Cedevita for his team’s ninth straight win on the eve of the playoffs.

Hepa lit up the defense on 8-of-11 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds to go with two steals and one assist.

Cibona (24-8) pulled into a second-place tie with Split in the country’s premier league going into the regular-season finale Saturday. A win or Split loss Saturday would secure Cibona the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. Cibona owns the tiebreaker with Split after sweeping the regular-season home-and-home series.

Hepa has been solid all year in Croatia but appears to be heating up for the playoffs, with his scoring average jumped from 10.2 to 15.3 points in the last four games.

The 6-foot-10 forward out of Barrow High – where he was the 2015 and 2016 Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year – is averaging 10.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 32 games, and his 25 blocked shots are tied for third in the league.

In 2024, as a rookie, Hepa led his team to the Lativa League Finals, so he knows a thing or two about how to win in the postseason.