Tucker Lam scored 10 of his 16 points in the first half as No. 3 Punahou fought off No. 5 Mililani 74-56 on the final day of the James Alegre Invitational boys basketball tournament.
Punahou and Saint Louis each finished the Alegre tournament with 3-0 records. There is no official champion, according to tourney officials.
Lam splashed four 3-pointers and the Buffanblu used constant fullcourt pressure to get scoring opportunities. James Taras, a 6-foot-5 junior, added 11 points. Football standout Kekai Burnett, a 6-5, 235-pound junior, finished with 13 points. Coach Darren Matsuda rotated reserves liberally and kept fresh legs on the court.
“This is our third day of practice. A lot of our guys were on the football team,” Matsuda said, referring to their ILH championship team that played in the state title game. “What we’re looking for is hustle and playing hard. They know the defense pretty well, but the offense is still real shaky, and we want to see transition.”
Punahou opened the Alegre tourney with an 80-41 win over Lahainaluna and a come-from-behind 57-43 win over No. 9 Leilehua.
“Today and yesterday was a really good test. Leilehua and Mililani are probably among the top teams in the OIA and they both present different problems,” Matsuda noted. “We’re pretty deep and we hustled a lot. We’re out of shape. We’re in football shape, and we really need to work on our execution.”
Jayden Kipapa led the Trojans with 16 points. LeCedric Brown and J Marzen chipped in eight points apiece for the defending OIA champions.
The game was physical on both ends, but the presence of Burnett in the paint was a big factor. He was a 210-pound sophomore a year ago, and added 25 pounds of muscle.
“For us, our past four or five centers have been D-I or NFL. We had Manti (Te’o), DeForest (Buckner), Duke (Clemens) now. There’s a couple others, (Semisi) Uluave, they’re Division I football players. A lot of times at practice, Division I football coaches come. They want to see the guys play basketball,” Matsuda said. “It helps them with football. Kekai loves the game. It keeps him mobile and keeps him in shape, and he’s a great player. He moves super well for 235. Whoever gets him in football is going to be lucky.”
Punahou’s defensive pressure involved guards and bigs swarming the court. The Buffanblu led 21-14 after one quarter and opened it to 38-26 by halftime. A big run expanded the lead to 46-28.
Mililani coach Garrett Gabriel called time out, and the Trojans rallied with a 15-2 run. However, after getting within 48-43 during the third quarter, they got no closer the rest of the way.
No. 4 Saint Louis 72, Honokaa 54
Pupu Sepulona scored 18 points, Jordan Posiulai tallied 15 and Shancin Revuelto chipped in nine for the young Crusaders, now 5-0 overall. They defeated No. 9 Moanalua (48-33) and No. 5 Mililani (33-26) before meeting Honokaa.
Kinohi Lindsey led Honokaa (2-2) with 21 points, shooting 7-for-7 at the charity stripe.
Lahainaluna 52, Radford 47
Kana‘au Castro scored 16 points, making eight of his 13 free-throw attempts, as the Lunas (2-2) edged the host Rams. Noah Flores Alexander and Ian Cabanilla added nine points each.
Isaiah Souffrant scored all 13 of his points after halftime to lead Radford (1-4). Isaiah Harmon tallied 10 points.
Mid-Pacific 68, No. 9T Moanalua 60
Jarek Yee hit 14 of his 16 free-throw attempts and finished with 22 points as the Owls (2-3) upset Na Menehune. Tyson Norr added 11 points.
Cyrus Faradineh led Moanalua (2-2) with 12 points and Michael Barcelona scored 11.
No. 9T Leilehua 67, McKinley 26
Lamont Mitchell scored 12 of his 15 points in the second quarter to spark the Mules (2-2) in a runaway win.
Zaniel Ortega led the Division II Tigers with nine points.
James Alegre Invitational
Thursday’s scores
Radford 59, Honokaa 52
> RAD: Hawkins Souffrant 17, Caden Williams 12. HON: Kiandray Rideout 14, Mauloa Tagabi 13.
No. 9T Leilehua 71, Mid-Pacific 29
> LEI: Zelston Militante 22, Willie Cooper 10. MPI: Darius Chizer 4, Logan Mason 4, Tyson Norr 4.
No. 5 Mililani 58, McKinley 20
> MIL: Lauvai Pine 9. MCK: John Cruz 6.
No. 3 Punahou 80, Lahainaluna 41
> PUN: Tucker Lam 19 (5 treys), Dillon Kellner 12. LAH: Noah Flores Alexander 10.
No. 4 Saint Louis 48, No. 9T Moanalua 33
> STL: Jiovanni Ramos 11, Pupu Sepulona 11. MOA: Cyrus Faradineh 11.
Friday’s scores
Lahainaluna 48, McKinley 24
> LAH: Noah Flores Alexander 15 (4 treys). MCK: Zaniel Ortega 9.
Honokaa 40, Mid-Pacific 37, OT
> HON: Kinohi Lindsey 16, Kiandray Rideout 14. MPI: Darius Chizer 11.
No. 3 Punahou 57, No. 9T Leilehua 43
> PUN: Dillon Kellner 9, Tucker Lam 9. LEI: Zelston Militante 13, Twain Wilson 13.
No. 9T Moanalua 61, Radford 56
> MOA: Skylar Miyasato 17, Michael Barcelona 13, Colby Casinas 11, Cyrus Faradineh 11. RAD: Caden Williams 22, Hawkins Souffrant 10
No. 4 Saint Louis 33, No. 5 Mililani 26
> STL: Pupu Sepulona 17, Jordan Posiulai 9. MIL: Jayden Kipapa 9.
