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Punahou just keeps coming up with heroes in its run through the ILH.
The Buffablu moved to 9-1 with a 59-57 win over Kamehameha at Punahou on Saturday night. The Warriors dropped to 5-4. AOP is second at 7-2.
Steven Lakalaka broke open a tie game at the end of the third quarter with a nifty alley-oop pass to Sean Gruebner at the buzzer, then came out in the fourth with a free throw off a steal and another assist, this time to DeForest Buckner. By the time he checked out, Punahou led by seven with 6:37 remaining.
"Lakalaka just rises to the occasion in big games," Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said. "He’s not the biggest guy, not the strongest guy or the quickest guy, but he gets the job done."
Lakalaka re-entered the game a minute and a half later and turned his attention to defending Dyrbe Enos. Lakalaka, Kaaha McAfee-Torco and Matt Taniguchi took turns defending Enos, the ILH’s top scorer, but Lakalaka did the bulk of the work in the fourth quarter, when Enos was held to two field goals, none of them from long range.
"They all play hard-nose, on-ball defense," Kamehameha coach Julian Nakanishi said. "They are going to be up in your grill, we have to get used to that physical type of defense."
Makoa Camanse-Stevens picked up Kamehameha and hit a turnaround jumper and followed it with a 3-pointer to cut the margin to two points with 12 seconds left. Nick Velasquez hit a pair of free throws to double it, but Enos answered with a putback to get it back down to two points with 2 seconds left. Kamehameha, never one to quit, sent Taylor Henderson to the line with 0.3 seconds left.
Game over, right? With Enos on the floor, the game is never really over. Matsuda asked the referees if it was even possible for someone to get a shot off in 0.3 seconds, and was told by two of them that it was not. A third referee did not agree, though, giving Matsuda a few more minutes to sweat.
Henderson missed the first free throw, and as if to test his skills, Enos collected the rebound and hurled it on a line the length of the floor. He had no clock to time his attempt, though, so when Henderson missed his second free throw Enos did it again. He failed to get it off in time and his attempt fell short anyway.
Buckner dominated inside for the Buffanblu, leading all scorers with 20 points, while Malik Johnson added 12 and Velasquez nine. Enos and Taylor Taliulu shared the lead for Kamehameha with 17 points each. Camanse-Stevens contributed nine.
At Punahou
| Kamehameha (5-4) |
17 |
14 |
12 |
14 |
— |
57 |
| Punahou (9-1) |
|
15 |
20 |
10 |
14 |
— |
59 |
KAMEHAMEHA–Dyrbe Enos, 17, Makoa Camanse-Stevens 9, Thor Latu 6, Taylor Taliulu 17, JT Campbell 4, Kamal Olowofoyeku 2, Makana Harrison 2.
PUNAHOU–DeForest Buckner 20, Malik Johnson 12, Nick Velasquez 9, Taylor Henderson 2, Sean Gruebner 5, Dayson Watanabe 3, Matt Taniguchi 2, Steven Lakalaka 7.
3-pointers–Kamehameha 7 (Enos 3, Taliulu 3, Camanse-Stevens). Punahou 5 (Velasquez 2, Gruebner, Watanabe, Lakalaka).
No. 5 Maryknoll 53, No. 7 ‘Iolani 51
Tobias Schramm scored 14 points and Austin Gaskins added 13 as the Spartans edged the Raiders.
‘Iolani’s Austin O’Leary hit five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points.
At ‘Iolani
| Maryknoll (6-4) |
6 |
14 |
14 |
19 |
— |
53 |
| ‘Iolani (6-4) |
9 |
10 |
13 |
19 |
— |
51 |
MARYKNOLL–Kaleb Gilmore 6, Kekoa Welsh 2, John Mayer 0, Danny Danbara 4, Isaiah Dowdell 2, Joshua Burnett 7, Austin Gaskins 13, Wyatt Pedro 5, Tobias Schramm 14, Varrick Suezaki 0.
‘IOLANI–Andrew Okimura 0, Drew Uchiyama 0, Erik Yamada 0, Ikaika Phillip 0, Reece Foy 0, Austin O’Leary 21, Gabriel Vega 10, Zach Buscher 7, Joshua Hannum 0, Josiah Situmeang 0, Duke Pauli 13.
3-point goals–Maryknoll 1 (Burnett). ‘Iolani 6 (O’Leary 5, Buscher).
Saint Louis 58, Damien 45
Acen Cabral scored 17 points, and Kamalei Correa added 13 as the Crusaders clipped the Monarchs.
Jaylen Layco led Damien with 14 points.
At Damien
| Saint Louis (2-7) |
13 |
21 |
14 |
10 |
— |
58 |
| Damien (2-6) |
8 |
10 |
15 |
12 |
— |
45 |
SAINT LOUIS–Ricky Ahlo-Pinera 0, Jimmy Nunuha 0, Acen Cabral 17, Nate Mantanona 7, Ihaka Johnson 0, Jaron Hall-Monis 9, Robert Sawinski 8, Kamalei Correa 13, Elu Aydon 4.
DAMIEN–Syles Choy 0, Alex Fant 8, Dobie Ching 3, Rusty Kauahikaua 0, Ocean Le 2, Kolton Jacobs 5, Dominique Arakaki 8, Ashton Obrero 4, David Lindsay 1, Eli Leslie 0, Austin Gonzalez 0, James Roy 0, Jaylen Layco 14, Kapi’ina King 0.
3-point goals–Saint Louis 1 (Mantanona). Damien 5 (Fant 2, Arakaki 2, Ching).
University 60, Mid-Pacific 45
Makena Suan-Rothenberg scored 15 points, and Gui Aires added 12 as the Jr. ‘Bows beat the Owls.
Mid-Pacific’s Thomas Blanco scored 11 points.
At Klum Gym
| Mid-Pacific (0-10) |
10 |
8 |
10 |
17 |
— |
45 |
| University (5-4) |
15 |
11 |
20 |
14 |
— |
60 |
MID-PACIFIC–Brian Chung 5, Jordan Matsumoto 2, Kenny Artymiak 2, Trey Kubota 4, Brennan O’Connell 4, Thomas Blanco 11, Ryan Swanson 8, Alex Poon 0, Rory Pidot 0, Gavin Nishizawa 4, Jacob Murray 0, Tyler Yamachika 0, Shayne Kanemitsu 0, James Woo 5.
UNIVERSITY–Makena Suan-Rothenberg 15, Joshua Javier 0, Anthony Canencia 6, Chris Meyer 0, Ian Akamine 0, Peter Fee 11, RJ Realubit 1, Cameron Conant 5, Nalu O’Connor 10, Gui Aires 12, Eric Leung 0.
3-point goals–Mid-Pacific 4 (Chung, Blanco, Swanson, Woo). University none.
ILH DIVISION II BOYS
Hanalani 42, Hawaii Baptist 26
Michael Milton scored 11 points and the Royals raced to a 25-3 halftime lead in routing the Eagles.
At Hanalani
| Hawaii Baptist (5-5) |
3 |
0 |
10 |
13 |
— |
26 |
| Hanalani (7-2) |
14 |
11 |
6 |
11 |
— |
42 |
HAWAII BAPTIST–Aaron Miyasaki 0, Michael Dang 0, Travis Teramae 2, BJ Hosaka 2, Kalei Hosaka 12, Evan Kaichi 0, Cailean Ching 3, Matthew Kishaba 4, Jordan Kauwe 0, Matthew Tommee 0, Bruce Kim 0, John Hirokawa 0, David Efhan 0, B. Hirakawa 3.
HANALANI–Michael Milton 11, Mark Milton 8, John Brady 2, Niko Milone 4, Kainoa Souza-Chaves 8, Tyler Cruz 0, Christian Peterson 7, Duane Teem 2.
3-point goals–Hawaii Baptist 4 (Hosaka 2, B. Hirakaw, Ching). Hanalani 3 (Ma. Milton 2, Mi. Milton).
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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM