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Boys Basketball: No. 2 Punahou runs away from Kaimuki
Posted at 04:08 PM
Kaimuki stayed close for a half, and then Punahou locked the house down. By Paul Honda It was Punahou’s first game since losing to Iolani Saturday in the finals of the James Alegre Invitational. The Buff n’ Blue are 5-2 and ranked No. 2 in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin Top 10. “For us, it was a bounce-back game. I was pleased to see this game tight early on,” Punahou coach Greg Tacon said. “I wanted to see how our guys would react. We’re still searching for our identity.” Jeremiah Ostrowkski finished with 10 points on a cold shooting night. Jordan Wong led Kaimuki with 11. A sparse crowd at Hemmeter Fieldhouse saw Kaimuki take a 14-9 lead. Punahou chipped away and took a 20-19 lead into intermission. The Buff n’ Blue went on an 8-0 run to open the second half and never looked back. Kaimuki pulled within 28-24, but Punahou’s man-to-man defense took advantage. Brandon Lee scored on a breakaway layup and Cho added a 3-point play as the Buffs opened a 40-28 lead with five minutes left in the contest. After Ostrowski and Cho hit back-to-back treys, the lead was up to 16 with 3:15 remaining. Kaimuki is learning new offensive plays under first-year head coach Kelly Grant, and the process was in effect against a stingy Punahou defense. “It was my fault. I didn’t recognize what (Punahou) was doing until the second quarter,” the former Maryknoll and HPU guard said. Punahou dressed up its defense like a man-to-man, but switched off as Kaimuki ran motion away from the ball. “You can tell Punahou is more cohesive. It’s gonna take time for us to figure out what our strengths are, and then adjust to our personnel.” Punahou, meanwhile, rests until Friday. The Buffs meet ‘Aiea in the opening round of the Iolani Classic in an afternoon game. Punahou was originally scheduled to play Roman Catholic (Philadelphia), but a change was made by tournament officials. “I was looking forward to playing Roman Catholic,” Punahou forward-center Spencer McLachlin said. “If we beat ‘Aiea, we get to play three mainland teams.” Tacon is looking at the long term, which means an Interscholastic League of Honolulu schedule and at least two more showdowns with three-time defending state champion Iolani. “On the tape, we didn’t play as badly as it felt,” he said of the loss on Saturday. “It was turnovers that killed us. Otherwise, we shot well.” Punahou shot 21-of-40 from the field against Iolani. Previous Article: Boys Basketball: Schedule/Scores, updated Tue., Dec. 14, 2:30 p.m. Comments © Copyright 2003 HondaReport.com/Leahi.Net
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