With three Maryknoll starters dancing the night away at their winter ball, center Tobias Schramm showed off some nifty moves of his own.

Schramm scored 21 points and Joshua Burnett added 11 as the Spartans frustrated Farrington to earn a 49-38 win in the first round of the Punahou Invitational on Wednesday at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

The 6-foot-9 Schramm was a constant source of attention, and his role will grow with each game the Spartans play. Maryknoll takes on Trinity Grammar of Australia, which features 6-foot-10 Angus Milham, today at 6 p.m.

"We just have to be patient, get the ball in to him," Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant said. "All of these kids have never played with a 6-foot-9 guy, you should have seen us the first couple days of practice. We’re getting better at it."

The Spartans immediately took the game to the paint. Schramm put Farrington center Viane Vaina in foul trouble the first two times he touched the ball, drawing two fouls and scoring four points. Vaina sat the rest of the first half, forcing the Governors to go to plan B.

But that didn’t work, either. The Govs sent waves of big men at Schramm, only to see him score four more points and dish the ball out to Tobias Powell and Joshua Barnett, who combined for eight points as the Spartans completed a 20-11 first quarter.

"When we got close to him, it worked," Farrington coach Allan Silva said. "When we gave him space, he killed us. If we see him again we will know what to do."

Farrington went on a 9-0 run in the second quarter to cut the margin to two points when Schramm took over again. The big man scored twice in the final minute, including a jumper at the buzzer, to take the Spartans into the locker room with a five-point lead, 28-23. Schramm had 14 points at intermission, and expected to keep getting the ball in the second half.

"We should do that," Schramm said. "It is the best thing if I just get the ball, I can take it to the basket or find my open teammate. We have to work on it a lot if we are going to win a state championship."

That margin did not look to be enough against the reigning Division II state champs as Farrington brought Vaina back onto the floor to help handle Schramm. With 6-foot swingman Mikey Kleman bodying up on Schramm, the 6-6 Vaina collected five rebounds and the combination held the big man to a single point in the third quarter. Kleman, Jeffrey Madarang and Chadey Callazo handled the scoring for the Govs, who took the game into the fourth quarter tied at 35.

After a nifty baseline move by Burnett, Tyler Liana hit a 3-pointer a minute into the fourth quarter to give the Governors a 38-37 lead. But Farrington did not score again. Schramm hit a spin move to give Maryknoll the lead and John Mayer scored on the break a minute later to push the margin to three. Burnett gave Maryknoll a 43-38 lead with 1:17 left with another fast-break basket.

Callazo, who led Farrington with nine points, drove the lane and appeared to draw a foul while soaring over Schramm, but the officials deemed it an offensive foul. The Govs kept fighting, but ran out of time when Schramm corralled a defensive rebound with 7.8 seconds left and was thrown to the floor.

He sank one free throw, and an official stopped him before he could attempt his second, calling an intentional foul on Kleman. Schramm hit three more free throws to give Maryknoll a nine-point lead and the game. Danny Danbara hit a pair of free throws to provide the final margin.

"I thought the refs made some bad calls," Silva said. "But I told the boys, if we are in a situation where bad calls are going to hurt us, we are doing something wrong."

In an earlier game, Trinity Grammar defeated Punahou II, 67-63.