Taimane Faleafine-Auwae had 16 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks as No. 1 Maryknoll stifled No. 4 Punahou, 57-40, on Monday night at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.
Dylan Neves and Isabella Arrisgado added 13 points each. Faleafine-Auwae shot 8-for-13 from the field as the Spartans improved to 7-0 in ILH play (17-1 overall). Punahou dropped to 4-3 (11-5 overall).
“We got the ball inside. We finally made some stuff. We dominate in the post, so if they’re holding us, I was trying to get some calls like we got against ‘Iolani around the bucket,” Maryknoll coach Chico Furtado said.
Facing Punahou’s relentless fullcourt pressure, Maryknoll committed just 12 turnovers. Punahou had 11 giveaways against Maryknoll’s halfcourt man-to-man defense.
Ashley Tom led Punahou with 11 points, including a 3-point buzzer-beater at the end of the first quarter to tie the game at 9. Punahou guard Laynee Torres-Kahapea picked up her second foul late in the first quarter and sat the entire second quarter. The visiting Spartans began to pull away late in the first half, going on a 9-2 run to open a 24-16 halftime lead.
A buzzer-beating 3 by Arrisgado got Furtado jumping out of his seat. He injured himself and limped in the second half.
“Oh gosh, that’s the dumbest thing I ever did, jumping around when Belle hit that nice 3 to end the half. I felt something pop in my calf,” he said.
Torres-Kahapea returned to start the second half, but Maryknoll guards Isabelle Arrisgado and Madison Guillermo took turns bottling up the slashing scorer. The third quarter was a runaway as Maryknoll opened the lead to 41-22.
“Laynee’s a great player. She put up a really good fight. It’s really tough guarding her, but at the end it’s all about effort,” Arrisgado said. “Our team was there for us all the time, picking us up so that really helped.”
Guillermo finished with three points. Her defense was invaluable.
“Whenever Laynee doesn’t have the ball, we face guard her,” Guillermo said.
Torres-Kahapea finally scored on a drive in traffic with 6:24 remaining. She finished with 10 hard-earned points, shooting 2-for-6 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.
“Laynee is very savvy, very good at causing penetration fouls,” Furtado said.
Maryknoll will visit No. 8 Kamehameha on Wednesday, then host Damien on Saturday. Punahou will host No. 3 ‘Iolani on Wednesday, then visit Kamehameha on Friday.
