Jordin Blackmon and her Bishop Montgomery teammates had a tough time shaking off the jet lag.
The defending Division I state champions in the CIF trailed by 19 points in the third quarter before full-court pressure sparked a massive comeback in a 55-52 win over the No. 1 team in Hawaii, Kamehameha, at the HPU Shark Tank in Manoa.
The Knights arrived in Honolulu on Thursday, then ran into a hungry Warriors squad that played at a national-power level for more than a half.
“We came out very slow and played out of character. Unfortunately, coach (Rheina Ale) had to get on us (at halftime) in the locker room,” said Blackmon, who finished with 20 points and seven rebounds.
Sophomore Armanyie Reed added 13 points for Bishop Montgomery, including the go-ahead bucket with 57 seconds left.
Nihoa Dunn finished with 25 points and seven rebounds to lead Kamehameha.
“This was a tough team to play and I’m just proud that we continued to fight and didn’t give up,” Ale said. “Kamehameha is very disciplined. (Dunn) is one of the best posts that I’ve seen, that we’ve played against. They play very well together. Coach (Pua Straight) does a very good job with that team.”
Dunn tied the game at 52 with two free throws, Reed’s drive and full-stop layup on the left block gave the visitors a 54-52 lead with 57 seconds left.
Reed then fouled Kamehameha guard Kapomaikai Nakamura in the backcourt. Nakamura missed two free throws, but Makenzie Alapai hustled across the lane for the offensive board. Rylee Paranada’s shot in the lane missed, and Reed sank one of two foul shots for a 55-52 led with 8.2 seconds left.
The Warriors rebounded the missed FT and pushed upcourt, where Paranada had a 2-on-2 fast break but launched a prayer from just inside the halfcourt line with five seconds on the game clock. The rebound glanced off Bishop Montgomery with 1.4 seconds left.
Paranada’s corner 3 at the buzzer was a close miss, sending the Knights and their fans into a frenzy.
“Definitely in the preseason, we focus on building confidence in our defense. That’s been our whole focus. Then we kind of shifted as we prepare for ILH season. We did a really good job with our game plan for a solid two-and-a-half quarters,” Warriors coach Pua Straight said. “A big thing for us was hanging around the rebounders too much and they got out in the open court a lot. That’s where they’re comfortable and got into their rhythm. They have some super tough players. (Blackmon) is legit.”
Bishop Montgomery (7-1) of Torrance, Calif., is ranked No. 20 in California by MaxPreps.. Blackmon is an ESPN Top 100 player (91st) in the class of 2025 and recently signed with Rice. The Warriors stifled the 5-foot-11 guard and limited her to four points on 2-for-6 shooting from the field in the first half. She also missed both free-throw attempts as the bewildered Knights went into the halftime break down 32-17.
The second half was a change in location, as Blackmon crashed the offensive glass for three big offensive caroms. She scored 16 points after the break.
After moving up to No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Girls Basketball Top 10 this week Kamehameha dropped to 9-2. The Warriors’ only other loss was to another CIF powerhouse, Mater Dei, two weeks ago.
Bishop Montgomery will play Maryknoll at 4 p.m. Saturday at Kamehameha’s Kekuhaupio Gym. After that, Kamehameha will host No. 6 Hanalani at 5:30 p.m.
Dunn was unstoppable in the first quarter, scoring 14 of her team’s 16 points. Like her team, though, it was a tale of two halves. The 6-1 center shot 8-for-9 from the field before intermission, then was 2-for-6 from the field afterward, getting into foul trouble.
In one instance with Kamehameha up 48-47 and three minutes left, Dunn had Blackmon — who had four fouls — defending in the paint. Instead of facing up and getting an easy bucket or fouling Blackmon out, Dunn forced a pass to the corner that was stolen.
“Playing a really good team like this shows us a lot. Even sometimes losing shows a lot more flaws and what we’ll go to work on,” Straight said.
Patient and opportunistic, Dunn played like a Top 100 player in the first half. She hit a difficult reverse layup and a series of mid-range jumpers and dominated the glass. She scored 14 points as Kamehameha opened a 16-9 lead after one quarter.
The Knights tried to get a spark going in the third quarter, but Blackmon picked up her third foul with 7:18 left as the Warriors attacked the lanes. Kamehameha’s tough on-ball man defense smothered the visitors, and Alapai’s steal and feed to Rylee Cabuyadao-Caswell gave the Warriors their biggest lead, 35-19.
After Cabuyadao-Caswell hustled for a putback, and Paranada launched a full-court pass to Dunn for a fast-break bucket, Kamehameha led 40-21 midway through the third quarter.
From that point, the Warriors struggled, blowing wide-open layups.
Dunn shot 2-for-6 from the field in the third stanza, then picked up her third foul with 2:36 left and went to the bench. The Knights’ full-court press flustered the Warriors, and after Blackmon swished a smooth baseline turnaround jumper, they were within 42-34 with 1:33 to play in the third. Blackmon crashed the offensive glass for a putback to bring the Knights within 42-36 going into the final quarter.
Dunn committed her fourth foul with 6:46 remaining and went back to the bench.
After a putback by Blackmon, she hit a foul shot a minute later as the Knights pulled within 42-39. However, Blackmon committed her fourth foul with 6:11 to go and sat down. The Knights got within 44-42 on a corner 3 by Reed. Alapai sank to foul shots, but a moment later missed a fast-break layup. After Sophia Dignadice splashed a straightaway 3, Bishop Montgomery was within 46-45 with less than five minutes remaining.
The Knights took their first lead of the game on a layup by Blackmon. From there, the game had four more lead changes, and Dunn tied it at 52 with two free throws and 1:39 remaining.
Once they return home, the Knights’ next game is on Dec. 14 against Ontario Christian (Calif.).
Kamehameha travels to Punahou on Wednesday to open the ILH regular season.
