Boys’ Basketball: No. 1 Iolani, No. 4 Kamehameha in
title game of Punahou Holiday Classic
By Paul Honda
Editor
HondaReport.com
Monday, December 29, 2003
Kamehameha, behind Spencer’s 17 points, fought off scrappy, but mistake-prone
Punahou, 57-53, in the semifinals of the Punahou Holiday Classic Monday night.
The Warriors, voted by media and coaches No. 4 in the HondaReport.com Boys’
Basketball Top Ten Monday, will get their shot at the state’s top-ranked,
two-time defending champion Tuesday. Iolani, a 56-38 winner over third-ranked
Kalaheo, will battle its Interscholastic League of Honolulu rival for the
tournament title at 7:30 p.m.
In Monday’s other games: Waiakea overwhelmed Iolani II, 59-43; Kea’au outlasted
Punahou II, 51-41; Campbell stifled Maryknoll, 53-38; Hilo stormed past
Farrington, 75-39; Marina edged Radford in overtime, 77-74; and Moanalua pulled
away from Damien, 53-41.
Tuesday’s schedule:
Damien vs. Farrington, 9 a.m.
Radford vs. Maryknoll, 10:30 a.m.
Moanalua vs. Hilo, noon
Marina vs. Campbell, 1:30 p.m.
Punahou II vs. Iolani II, 3 p.m.
Kalaheo vs. Punahou, third place, 4:30 p.m.
Kea’au vs. Waiakea, consolation final, 6 p.m.
Iolani vs. Kamehameha, championship, 7:30 p.m.
|
@ Hemmeter Fieldhouse |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
F |
|
Kamehameha |
12 |
18 |
19 |
08 |
57 |
|
Punahou |
09 |
17 |
13 |
14 |
53 |
Guard Ikaika Hardy added 16 points, including some clutch free throws as
Kamehameha clung to a small lead late in the contest. The Warriors put the game
away with good team foul shooting. They controlled much of the game with good
rebounding and pesky footwork in Punahou’s passing lanes.
It was Kamehameha’s second win over No. 2-ranked Punahou in preseason.
Still, it was far from a flawless game for Kamehameha, which looked a bit
clunky with its delay game, but executed well enough to outplay Punahou in the
final minutes. For Kamehameha’s first-year head coach, Jesse Nakanishi, there
was little to lament. “We held on three times when they tried to come back,” he
said. “We squeezed by.”
The Warriors also slammed by. With a distinct size advantage inside, they
relied on board control led by Spencer. The 6-foot-5 senior threw down a
pulverizing slam dunk on a fastbreak to give Kamehameha a 50-42 lead late in
the fourth quarter.
Punahou, careless with its passing much of the game, sharpened up down the
stretch. The Buffanblu pulled within a point in the final quarter, 51-50, on a
3-pointer by Jeremiah Ostrowski, before Kamehameha sealed the win with free
throws.
Brenton Lee and Reid Fowler paced Punahou with 11 points each.
The sloppy play was on both ends, Punahou head coach Greg Tacon said. “This is
not what our four seniors wanted,” he said. “We had defensive intensity in the
fourth quarter, but where was it in the first, second and third quarters?”
Ah, the life of a coach with a youthful, but inexperienced squad. Sputtering in
their halfcourt offense, the Buffanblu committed four turnovers in a brief
stretch of the second quarter. That allowed Kamehameha to roll off a 9-0 run
and take a 21-9 lead. It was a deficit the Buffanblu spent the rest of the game
chasing.
Kamehameha, sticking with a straight halfcourt man defense, was unable to shake
resilient Punahou. “We’ve got to learn to kill them off when we get the
chance,” said Nakanishi, who guided Kamehameha’s freshman and junior varsity
teams before taking over when Darryl Gabriel stepped down in the off-season.
|
@ Hemmeter Fieldhouse |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
F |
|
Iolani |
12 |
12 |
17 |
15 |
56 |
|
Kalaheo |
12 |
15 |
09 |
02 |
38 |
Derrick Low scored 16 points, Zack Tollefson tallied 11 and Ryan Hirata
added 10 to lead the Raiders in a comeback win. They trailed by nine in the
second quarter before rallying.
Iolani’s halfcourt traps were effective, and Hirata hit a pair of treys to open
a double-figure lead for the Raiders. The Mustangs were also hurt during the
run by a charging call—questioned by Kalaheo fans—and a technical foul assessed
by center Sam Wilhoite.
The 6-7 senior finished with 22 points, but most came in the first half.
Kalaheo struggled to get the state’s premier post scorer many touches after
intermission.
|
@ Hemmeter Fieldhouse |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
F |
|
Waiakea |
13 |
25 |
10 |
11 |
59 |
|
Iolani II |
13 |
04 |
17 |
09 |
43 |
Abe McGrew poured in 32 points and Jon Morris tallied 13 as the Warriors of the
Big Island Interscholastic Federation roared to victory.
Brandon Young led the Division II Raiders with 19 points.
Waiakea broke the game open with a 25-4 run in the second quarter.
|
@ Hemmeter Fieldhouse |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
F |
|
Kea’au |
13 |
25 |
10 |
11 |
59 |
|
Punahou II |
13 |
04 |
17 |
09 |
43 |
Junior swingman Aukai Wong scored 14 points as the Cougars pulled away in the
final quarter for the win.
Brian Matsumoto paced the Division II Buffanblu with nine points.
|
@ Hemmeter Fieldhouse |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
F |
|
|
04 |
14 |
19 |
16 |
53 |
|
Maryknoll |
09 |
02 |
08 |
09 |
38 |
Chris Daniels pumped in 17 points and Tristan Sealy added 11 as the Sabers
stifled the Spartans.
Edward Kawahara led Maryknoll with 14 points.
|
@ Hemmeter Fieldhouse |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
F |
|
|
22 |
17 |
24 |
12 |
75 |
|
Farrington |
11 |
12 |
05 |
11 |
39 |
Matt Haasenritter, the multi-talented senior, led the Vikings with 20 points.
Haasenritter was the ace of the
John Fonoti led Farrington with 17 points.
|
@ Hemmeter |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
OT |
F |
|
|
27 |
09 |
16 |
18 |
07 |
77 |
|
Radford |
10 |
17 |
20 |
23 |
04 |
74 |
Matt Brennan scored 26 points and Stephen Becker added 22 to lead
Swingman Tauran Moore paced the Rams with 23 points. Guard Mike Davis added 21
points, and Greg Solomon tallied 11.
|
@ Hemmeter Fieldhouse |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
F |
|
Damien |
14 |
09 |
11 |
07 |
41 |
|
Moanalua |
11 |
10 |
15 |
17 |
53 |
Point guard Joseph Nishimura scored 19 points as the Menehune outlasted the
Monarchs with a key fourth quarter run.
Keoki Steinhoff led Damien with 17 points.
Discuss this story with the basketball fiends at:
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To e-mail the writer:
paul@hondareport.com