Punahou boys basketball coach Darren Matsuda would have emptied his bench, if he had a bench to empty.
The Buffanblu’s platoon system worked like a charm and No. 3 Punahou beat No. 9 Kahuku 86-42 to open the final day of the OIA/ILH Challenge at Moanalua on Friday.
"The way we try to develop our team is that everybody is just as valuable as anyone else," Matsuda said. "We don’t have traditional first string, second string, third string. We like to be able to plug them in if anyone is missing."
Punahou scored on each of its first six possessions to take a 14-4 lead and never looked back. The Buffanblu led by eight after the first quarter and ballooned the lead to 22 by the half. They outscored Kahuku 28-8 in the third quarter and settled down to an 11-9 advantage in the fourth.
Kupono Fey and Daniel Andrews each scored 14 points for the Buffanblu. Lasselle Thompson led Kahuku with 12.
The Buffanblu hit six 3-pointers in the first quarter and 11 for the game. Kahuku hit only two 3-pointers.
"They were on fire. Did they miss any shots?" Kahuku coach Darren Johnson said. "We are just out of synch and need to regroup and get better."
Kahuku, which lost to Punahou in last year’s state final, has lost six games in a row in the nonconference season. The Buffanblu are on a four-game winning streak. The Red Raiders are missing point guard Kawehena Johnson, who is on a football recruiting trip to New Mexico State, and sophomore Soli Afalava, who rolled his ankle and might need surgery. Darren Johnson will find out about Afalava on Monday.
"A lot worked today but they were missing (Kawehena Johnson), who is a scorer and their main ballhandler," Matsuda said. "Really, I think we just got hot in the third quarter. They will be there in the end."
The teams will play each other again the day after Christmas. Punahou’s starters can expect to play in the fourth quarter when that test comes along.
"We still have a lot of things to work on," Punahou point guard Dayson Watanabe said. "We were just trying to execute our plays. It is so early in the season."
No. 6 Kamehameha 47, No. 8 Kapolei 45
Makoa Camanse-Stevens hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with one second left to give the Warriors a comeback victory over the Hurricanes.
Kapolei led by three points with 10.3 seconds left, but a pair of free throws by Austin Gerard cut it to 45-44 before Kapolei’s Christopher Dillard turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play.
Camanse-Stevens led Kamehameha with 18 points.
No. 5 ‘Iolani 51, Farrington 48
Zach Buscher hit a layup and the free throw that followed it with 17.2 seconds left to lead the Raiders over the Governors.
The Governors, who led the entire way, got an open 3-point attempt for Jacob McEnroe at the buzzer, but his attempt missed long. Buscher and Marc Ma each had 10 points for ‘Iolani, which had 10 different players score and went 11-for-13 from the line.
Marco Cudia led Farrington with 16 points and McEnroe added 11.
