Punahou senior Zayne Chong and most of his classmates hadn’t experienced victory on Maryknoll’s hallowed Tony Sellitto Court in its Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium.
That changed on Thursday night. Chong scored 17 points, going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final quarter, as the No. 1 Buffanblu rallied from an 11-point deficit for a 47-42 win over the No. 4 Spartans.
“I’ve never won here ever. Not in intermediate, JV or the last two years (on varsity),” the senior guard said.
The win gave Punahou (17-2 overall) a hard-earned advantage as the Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys basketball regular season began. The visitors struggled at times against a rugged Maryknoll man-to-man defense. They shot 12-for-33 (36 percent) from the field, but made up for it with efficiency. Punahou had just two turnovers in the second quarter, none in the third and only two more in the fourth.
The Buffanblu also shot 11-for-14 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. Chong, who was 4-for-11 from the field, was a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line.
In a tight, physical battle, the difference was more cerebral for Punahou.
“Their points were coming off offensive rebounds and our turnovers,” Chong said.
Maryknoll (15-4, 0-1 ILH) got nine points each from Marcus Tobin and Jaylen Cain. As a team, the Spartans shot 33 percent from the field (13-for-40), including 4-for-20 from the 3-point arc. They also shot just 57 percent (12-for-21) at the free-throw line.
After a flawless opening quarter with no turnovers and a 17-6 lead, Maryknoll had more turnovers (10) than field goals (nine) in the next three periods.
“In the first quarter, we had great ball movement, but after that there wasn’t enough,” Spartans coach Kelly Grant said. “Guys were standing around, maybe there was a little bit of fatigue.”
Leading 42-38 in the final minute, Kaulana Makaula hit three of four from the line to open the lead to seven points with 16.3 seconds to go.
“We prepped for two days. We knew it would be a tough matchup against a very athletic team that’s playing well together,” Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said. “We had to stay in the moment. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
On Saturday, Punahou will visit Mid-Pacific, which upset ‘Iolani on Thursday. Maryknoll will travel to Saint Louis on Saturday.
