The Punahou boys basketball team might need to invest in some new warm-up shirts for the state tournament.
The Buffanblu prepare for games in blue shirts with “We rise” on the front and “32 minutes” on the back. They needed more than just those 32 to punch their ticket to states on Wednesday night and earn the chance to defend their state title.
“Protect the title,” Punahou senior Nick Velasquez said. “We want to keep it on Punahou’s campus and we are going to be focused and we are going to be ready.”
Punahou beat Kamehameha 48-44 in overtime at Punahou on Wednesday night, not earning its spot in next week’s state tourney until Maryknoll beat ‘Iolani across the street. No. 3 Punahou visits No. 2 Maryknoll on Friday in a game for the ILH title and will need to beat the Spartans twice (they would play again on Saturday if Punahou can win Friday) to get the trophy and a seeded berth in the state tournament.
Kamehameha, the fifth-ranked team in the state, will miss the state tournament for the first time since 2007. The ILH’s state -tournament berths were reduced from three to two after two schools dropped to Division II and another dropped basketball.
“I feel bad for Kamehameha and ‘Iolani,” Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said. “Both of those teams are good enough to win the state, unfortunately our league only gets two in this year.”
Punahou led throughout overtime after Kamehameha came back from eight points down early in the fourth quarter to tie it. The Buffanblu led by four points after three possessions in the extra frame, getting a baseline hoop from Daniel Andrews and an easy layup by Kupono Fey on a pass from point guard Jordan Tanuvasa.
“We feel like when we play together, we are really tough to beat,” Matsuda said. “That’s the strength of our team. Our team really likes each other and when we play together it makes the game easier.”
Kamehameha cut the lead to 44-42 with less than a minute left on two baskets by big man Kody Chai, but started putting Punahou on the line. The Buffanblu didn’t take their first free throw of the game until there were 2 minutes left in regulation, but finished 6-for-9. Kamehameha went 7-for-9 from the stripe.
Tanuvasa missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 28 seconds left, but Fey soared from the middle block and got the offensive rebound to earn two shots for Velasquez. Velasquez missed his first two attempts in the fourth quarter, but wasn’t going to let it happen again. He led Punahou with 12 points.
“I just missed them,” Velasquez said. “They looked good, but it’s all right, I just had to keep my focus and make it up for my team at the end.”
Velasquez made a pair to put the margin at four with 21.7 seconds left and Kamehameha’s Makoa Camanse-Stevens, who led all scorers with 17 points, responded with a jumper with 10.4 seconds left to cut it in half.
Velasquez buried two more free throws and Camanse-Stevens threw a wayward pass to Punahou’s Micah Ma‘a in the corner at the other end to seal it for the Buffanblu.
“They made the plays when they needed them,” Kamehameha coach Julian Nakanishi said. “It’s unfortunate only two teams make it from the ILH. There are a lot of worthy teams in our league but that’s how it goes.”
Kamehameha, which is healthy for the first time this year, came out a little tight and Punahou’s defense had its way with the Warriors’ indecision.
Kamehameha didn’t score until its 10th possession, when Javen Sablay buried a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left in the first quarter. The Warriors committed four turnovers before scoring.
It helped that Punahou couldn’t get anything going, either. The Buffanblu entered the second quarter with a slim 5-3 lead, which they grew to 11-5 shortly afterwards.
Kamehameha finally found its range after that, with Camanse-Stevens hitting a pair of 3-pointers and Sablay contributing one to give the Warriors a 15-14 lead at the break.
Punahou took a six-point lead, 32-26, after the third quarter with five of their eight baskets coming off assists by four different players. They weren’t so unselfish in the fourth quarter, when Kamehameha rallied with two of their seven 3-pointers and tied it at 38-all with 42 seconds left on Chai’s cleanup of a miss by Austin Gerard. Punahou had a chance to put Kamehameha away in regulation, but Andrews missed a jumper and Ma‘a missed a desperation try after getting the offensive rebound.
Now the Buffanblu get a chance to prevent Maryknoll from hanging an ILH championship banner. That won’t be an easy task after the teams split in the regular season. The game will be on Maryknoll’s home floor.
“We are going to have to play them a little differently,” Matsuda said. “They are a little bit more athletic than we are, so hopefully we will do what we did last time and we can beat them.”
At Punahou
Kamehameha 3 12 11 12 6 — 44
Punahou 5 9 18 6 10 — 48
KAMEHAMEHA—Noa Kinimaka 3, Makoa Camanse-Stevens 17, Javen Sablay 6, Kayson Smith-Bejgrowicz 0, Noah Sua-Godinet 3, Austin Gerard 6, Makana Harrison 1, Kamal Olowofoyeku 2, Kody Chai 6 .
PUNAHOU—Randon Oda 2, Jordan Tanuvasa 0, Micah Ma‘a 0, Justin Kam 0, Dayson Watanabe 6, Daniel Andrews 8, Kanawai Noa 10, Nick Velasquez 12, Kupono Fey 10, Canton Kaumatule 0.
3-point goals—Kamehameha 7 (Camanse-Stevens 3, Sablay 2, Kinimaka, Sua-Godinet). Punahou 4 (Watanabe 2, Noa 2).
No. 2 Maryknoll 59,
No. 8 ‘Iolani 48
Danny Danbara scored 15 points and Tobias Schramm added 14 to lead the Spartans past the Raiders.
Zach Buscher (18 points) and Drew Uchiyama (13) each drained three 3-pointers for ‘Iolani.
At Maryknoll
‘Iolani 10 19 6 13 — 48
Maryknoll 14 14 13 18 — 59
‘IOLANI—Andrew Okimura 0, Drew Uchiyama 13, Reece Foy 1, Ikaika Phillip 6, Chris Gallacher 0, Marc Ma 2, Trey Kidd 6, Zach Buscher 18, Erik Yamada 2, Josiah Situmeang 0, Adrian Kwok 0.
MARYKNOLL—Sean Ogata 0, Kekoa Welsh 0, Mickey Morikawa 0, John Mayer 0, Danny Danbara 15, Kaleb Gilmore 11, Tobias Powell 5, Joshua Burnett 7, Tamamoko Green 0, Tyson Kaloa 0, Hyrum Harris 7, Tobias Schramm 14.
3-point goals—‘Iolani 6 (Uchiyama 3, Buscher 3). Maryknoll 4 (Danbara 2, Powell, Gilmore).
Tuesday’s late results
No. 5 Kamehameha 52, Mid-Pacific 26
At Kamehameha
Mid-Pacific 5 13 4 4 — 26
Kamehameha 15 12 20 5 — 52
MID-PACIFIC—Brian Chung 0, Carl Maybin 0, Daniel Florenco 2, Brennan O’Connell 0, Andrew Kargol 0, Thomas Blanco 0, Kyle Husslein 4, Ben Swanson 0, Kenneth Colombe 0, Ryan Swanson 10, James Woo 8, Gavin Nishizawa 2, Jacob Murray 0.
KAMEHAMEHA—Noa Kinimaka 3, Makoa Camanse-Stevens 10, Javen Sablay 2, Elijah Leslie 0, Kayson Smith-Bejgrowicz 4, Noah Sua-Godinet 0, Haku Durant 5, Austin Gerard 7, Makana Harrison 13, Kamal Olowofoyeku 0, Kody Chai 6, Thordan Latu 2, Alaka‘i Freitas 0.
3-point goals—Mid-Pacific 4 (R. Swanson 2, Husslein, Woo). Kamehameha 7 (Camanse-Stevens 3, Harrison 2, Kinimaka, Gerard).
Also
ILH Division I-AA
Varsity boys
Kamehameha 32, ‘Iolani 30
