Oregon City (Ore.) point guard Montana Walters dished out nine assists as the Pioneers outran Lahainaluna 81-42 on Thursday in the opening round of the ‘Iolani Classic girls basketball tournament.

Coach Kurt Guelsdorf was at ease only after the final buzzer.

"I like the way we played. We’ve been here a couple of times now and I know the first game after you travel a lot can be ugly at times," said Guelsdorf, who has a 322-90 career mark. "We jumped on them quick and got the pace up, got them tired. We really, really run. A lot of teams say they run, but we really run."

Walters was masterful. She and teammate Johanna Paine, oral commits to Santa Clara, showed their experience early and often. Paine scored nine points in the opening quarter, when the Pioneers sprinted to a 35-9 lead.

"Our team is a whole lot closer and we want to win so much after what happened last year," Walters said, recalling last year’s semifinal loss to eventual tourney champ Konawaena.

That depth — 11 seniors — has the Pioneers looking title worthy.

"They’re good kids," Guelsdorf said. "The fundamentals, moving the ball, making the extra pass, it was a tradition before I coached and we’re just trying to uphold that tradition."

A tenacious fullcourt press and blinding transition offense — with Walters often delivering passes as her teammates ran upcourt — set the Pioneers apart.

Lady Lunas coach Todd Rickard burned two time outs in the opening quarter. The second came after Paine, a 5-foot-10 senior, had scored on back-to-back shots inside to give Oregon City a 16-2 lead.

The stoppages did little to cool off the Pioneers, who shot 15-for-17 in the opening quarter.

After Jessica Gertz swished a couple of 3-pointers, the visitors were up 24-4.

Paine finished with a team-high 17 points and seven rebounds. Gertz added 15 points, while Jenae Paine tallied 14 points.

Lindsey Bates led Lahainaluna with 17 points.

In all, the bigger Pioneers outrebounded the Lunas 39-17, grabbing 23 boards on the offensive glass. But it was constant pressure, whether by traps or fullcourt man coverage, that did in the Lunas. Lahainaluna committed 30 turnovers.

"You don’t see that kind of speed in Hawaii. It was a shock wave," Rickard said. "And the amount of depth and size. Their strength is the way they pressure you beginning to end."

Oregon City, which shot just 3-for-20 from the free-throw line, also committed 16 turnovers.

The Pioneers shot 49 percent from the field (37-for-75), hitting a mere four 3-pointers. Most of the damage was done with savvy passing by Walters and their bigs.

Lahainaluna shot 33 percent from the field (15-for-45), including 13 percent from the arc (2-for-16). They were 10-for-18 (55 percent) from the foul line.

Oregon City finished fourth in its state last year and appears to be a favorite this winter thanks to the multitude of seniors.

"Offseason we have open gym five nights a week, three hours a day," Walters said. "It’s a lot of running, even now. We’re all working together."

Ideally, Guelsdorf said, the Pioneers will push the pace enough to get 80 to 90 possessions per game.

"That gets you, if you’re under 12 turnovers, at least 60 shots," he said. "Some years we try to get a certain number of 3-point shots, but this year we’re strong inside, so if we get 15 quality 3-point shots, that’s what we’re shooting for."

Dr. Phillips (Fla.) 61, Jin Ling (China) 43

Hannah Schaible poured in 23 points and Sydnei McCaskill added 10 for the Panthers.

Yu Wang led Jin Ling with nine points.

Southlake Carroll (Texas) 56, Maryknoll 45

The Lady Dragons trailed 28-26 at the half, but got three treys in the third quarter to pull ahead.

Kennedy Leonard scored 14 points to lead Southlake. Gretchen Morrison added 10 and guard Kami Mickens (Boston College) added eight despite sitting with foul trouble in the first half.

Freshman Lindsey Lee led the Spartans with 11 points. Sophomore Maegen Martin added 10.

‘Iolani 54, Moanalua 29

The Raiders saw a 31-13 halftime lead shrink to just eight points in the third quarter, but the constant platooning — five players in, five out — wore down visiting Na Menehune. Alex Masaquel and Klein Masutani scored 10 each for ‘Iolani. Ciera O’Brien led Na Menehune with eight points.