Chayse Milne and Lexie Delovio scored 16 points each as No. 3 Maryknoll survived a huge comeback by No. 4 Punahou for a wild 66-63 win on Saturday night.
Maryknoll closed Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls basketball regular-season play in first place with an 11-1 mark, clinching an automatic state-tournament berth before a raucous crowd of about 700 at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.
“Our third quarter, that was an A-plus. Our effort is always an A,” Maryknoll coach Chico Furtado said. “But after that, it was an F.”
Maryknoll extended its lead to 61-46 with 3:32 left after a flurry of transition attacks and free throws by Delovio. Then it was a near collapse by the visiting Spartans.
After shooting 16-for-22 at the foul line through nearly 29 minutes, the well ran dry. While Maryknoll went 2-for-12 during a key stretch, Punahou caught fire. Tyra Moe hit two free throws, a straightaway 3, and then a traditional three-point play in the paint that brought the lead down to 65-60 with 40.7 seconds to go.
Then Punahou went cold from the field, and even after four more misses by Maryknoll at the line. Milne’s free throw with 22 seconds left helped slow Punahou’s momentum, and all the Buffanblu could muster was a 3-pointer by Heaven Wong with three seconds left for the final margin. Punahou had no timeouts left and Maryknoll inbounded the ball as time expired.
“We played as a team and stuck together facing adversity,” said sophomore point guard Rhianne Omori (10 points). “Our captains (Lindsey Lee and Delovio) and coaches kept us calm.”
Until the final minutes, Maryknoll seemed to sap all the senior-night energy from Punahou’s home crowd. The Buffanblu had to adjust on the fly when center Va‘e Malufau aggravated a left shoulder injury during warmups. Coach Liz Kam said the injury first occurred on Thursday against Kamehameha. This time, “it popped out,” Kam said.
The Buffanblu got a huge performance from Moe. The 6-foot-1 senior finished with 24 points and 17 rebounds, sinking all seven of her free-throw attempts.
“She played a great game, one of her best games ever. She was on fire,” Kam said.
“The team was kind of freaking out when we found out about Va‘e,” Moe said. “But a lot of us stepped up, like Heaven Wong.”
Kamaile Kandiah added 16 points for Punahou (10-2), while Wong added seven points and Abigail Aplaca added six off the bench. Punahou closes one chapter and looks ahead to the ILH playoffs, where one more state berth will be up for grabs.
“We wish we could’ve won, but I’m sure we’ll see them again,” Moe said.
Freshman Kamalu Kamakawiwo‘ole chipped in nine points off the bench for the Spartans.
Maryknoll was on fire from the start and had its biggest lead, 44-28, after a steal and layup by Omori with 3:42 left in the third quarter. By then, Furtado had his team spreading the floor.
“We’re going to use our guards and our quickness,” Furtado said. “We got what we wanted, but we missed those free throws.”
| Maryknoll (11-1) |
14 |
15 |
20 |
17 |
— |
66 |
| Punahou (10-2) |
15 |
11 |
10 |
27 |
— |
63 |
MARYKNOLL – Kamalu Kamakawiwo’ole 9, Alexis Delovio 16, Rhianne Omori 10, Georjette Stietzel 2, Dakota Viena 5, Isabella Cravens 0, Chayse Milne 16, Lindsey Lee 5, Ysabelle Halemano 2, Moe Notoa 1.
PUNAHOU – Kamaile Kandiah 16, Lexie Taylor 0, Heaven Wong 7, Abigail Aplaca 6, Kristen Tamagawa 1, Elle Uyeda 9, Tyra Moe 24.
3-point goals – Maryknoll 3 (Delovio, Omori, Milne). Punahou 4 (Kandiah, Wong, Uyeda, Moe).
