Academy of the Pacific head coach Wally Marciel instilled the importance of a strong start into the Dolphins’ boys basketball team entering Tuesday’s meeting with top-ranked Punahou.
The Dolphins heeded the lesson and pulled ahead early, then held on late, in a 60-51 win over the Buffanblu to open the Interscholastic League of Honolulu schedule.
Third-ranked AOP never trailed in the game, building a 15-point lead in the third quarter before Punahou charged back to close to four late in the contest. The Dolphins went 10-for-12 from the free-throw line in the final period to secure the win at Punahou’s Hemmeter Fieldhouse.
“We told the boys the first 4 minutes of the game are important, the first 4 minutes at the start of the second half,” said Marciel. “And in those 4 minutes we played well. We stress that every day in practice.”
Punahou played without two key members of the rotation in DeForest Buckner and Kupono Fey. Buckner returns today after playing in an all-star football game on the mainland, where he announced his commitment to Oregon. Fey suffered a broken finger in a volleyball camp.
When the teams last met, AOP spent most of the game in chase mode before losing to the Buffanblu 47-43 on Dec. 10.
This time, AOP owned the lead throughout behind a balanced performance led by Wilson Macleod’s game-high 13 points while the Dolphins got 29 points from their bench.
“It’s a good confidence builder. We played well as a team today. Everyone stepped up,” Macleod said. “We don’t want it to be one person, we want to work as a team. Everybody stepped up and it was great.”
AOP’s David Daniel contributed 12 points off the bench, perhaps the most pivotal coming about midway through the fourth quarter after a 13-4 Punahou run cut the Dolphins’ lead to 45-39.
After a scramble for the ball, Daniels hit a 3-pointer from the left side, then came up with a steal and a layup to push the lead back to 11.
“That was a huge swing because there were two or three opportunities in that possession to get the ball back, and they were a little quicker to the ball,” Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said.
“I thought their hustle was key today and they made the plays when it counted.”
Punahou made another run and closed to 50-46 when Nick Velasquez hit a 3-pointer and scored on a breakaway layup. But AOP’s work from the free-throw line kept the Buffanblu from getting any closer.
“I told the boys there would be a point where they make a run and they did and we held our composure and shot big free throws at the end,” Marciel said.
At Hemmeter Fieldhouse
| AOP (1-0) |
19 |
15 |
11 |
15 |
— |
60 |
| PUNAHOU (0-1) |
12 |
9 |
16 |
14 |
— |
51 |
ACADEMY OF THE PACIFIC—Shai Brown 0, Carter Kauwenaole 0, Keomalu Akiona 0, Mattia Raebel 9, Kamana Keahohou 8, Arkadiy Mkrtychyan 6, Drew Viena 8, Artur Mkrtychyan 4, David Daniel 12, Wilson Macleod 13, Bret Kanoa 0.
PUNAHOU—Sean Gruebner 2, Jordan Tanuvasa 9, Bryan Matsukawa 1, Micah Ma‘a 0, Steven Lakalaka 4, Dayson Watanabe 9, Matthew Taniguchi 0, Kaaha McAfee-Torco 0, Taylor Henderson 10, Nick Velasquez 8, Malik Johnson 8.
3-point goals—AOP 4 (Raebel, Daniel 2, Macleod), Punahou 7 (Tanuvasa 3, Watanabe 2, Henderson 1, Velasquez 1).
ILH DIVISION I
No. 6 ‘Iolani 84, Mid-Pacific 42
Duke Pauli scored 23 points to lift the Raiders over the Owls to open conference play with a win.
Ryan Swanson scored 14 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead Mid-Pacific.
At ‘Iolani
| MID-PACIFIC (0-1) |
12 |
7 |
15 |
8 |
— |
42 |
| ‘IOLANI (1-0) |
25 |
22 |
22 |
15 |
— |
84 |
MID-PACIFIC—Brian Chung 0, Jordan Matsumoto 5, Kenny Artymiak 6, Trey Kubota 6, Brennan O’Connell 4, Ryan Swanson 14, Rory Pidot 0, Gavin Nishizawa 7, Jacob Murray 0, James Woo 0.
‘IOLANI—Andrew Okimura 0, Drew Uchiyama 5, Erik Yamada 11, Ikaika Phillip 9, Chris Gallacher 4, Austin O’Leary 7, Marc Ma 4, Gabriel Vega 10, Zach Buscher 0, Joshua Hannum 8, Josiah Situmeang 3, Duke Pauli 23.
3-point goals—Mid-Pacific 4 (Swanson 3, Matsumoto). ‘Iolani 4 (Yamada 3, O’Leary).
University 61, Damien 38
Three Junior ’Bows scored in double digits, with Cameron Conant leading the way with 18 in their win over the Monarchs.
Dominique Arakaki and Ashton Obrero scored 10 points each to lead Damien.
At Klum Gym
| DAMIEN (0-1) |
9 |
4 |
13 |
12 |
— |
38 |
| UNIVERSITY (1-0) |
18 |
13 |
17 |
13 |
— |
61 |
DAMIEN—Aaron Myahira 0, Syles Choy 0, Alex Fant 5, Doble Ching 0, Rusty Kauahikaua 2, Ocean Le 0, Kolton Jacobs 0, Dominique Arakaki 10, Ashton Obrero 10, David Lindsay 0, Eli Leslie 0, Austin Gonzalez 2, James Roy 2, Jaylen Layco 7.
UNIVERSITY—Makua Suan-Rothenberg 15, Joshua Javier 0, Anthony Canencia 5, Chris Meyer 2, Ian Akamine 3, RJ Realubit 2, Cameron Conant 18, Nalu O’Connor, Gui Aires 16.
3-point goals—Damien none. University 5 (Aires 3, Canencia, Suan-RothernBerg).
ILH DIVISION II
Kamehameha II 51, Le Jardin 38
Kase Kuhns scored 14 points as the Warriors defeated the Bulldogs.
Sean McWhinnie had 17 points for Le Jardin.
At Le Jardin gym
| KS II (1-0) |
12 |
10 |
11 |
18 |
— |
51 |
| LE JARDIN (2-2) |
5 |
11 |
13 |
9 |
— |
38 |
KAMEHAMEHA II—TJ Balderas 4, Brandon Akiona 9, Trent Parker 3, Trevor Aikau 0, Jimmy Gallagher 7, Blayze Liilii 2, Kase Kuhns 14, Nephi Stevens 0, Tristan Koanohi 2, Jerom Ching 2, Jayson Murakami 0, Cameron Simao 6, Kody Chai 2.
LE JARDIN—Alec Macleod 7, Frank Montalvo 2, Dylan Van Ness 0, Sean McWhinnie 17, Sam Spengler 3, Julien Perkins 5, Jack Blaskowski 4.
3-point goals—Kamehameha 4 (Akiona, Park, Gallagher, Kuhns). Le jardin 2 (McWhinnie, Macleod).
Saint Louis II 55, Christian Academy 54
Zachary Cuarisma scored 18 points as the Crusaders squeezed out a win over the Patriots.
Jasen Ocol scored 24 points for Christian Academy in the loss.
At Saint louis
| CA (1-4) |
13 |
13 |
12 |
16 |
— |
54 |
| SAINT LOUIS (1-1) |
8 |
13 |
16 |
18 |
— |
55 |
CHRISTIAN ACADEMY—Shaun Bonilla 9, Micah Sugiura 10, Jasen Ocol 24, Christopher Canoneo 0, Ethan Reyes 10, Austin Miura 0, Ryan Helsham 1.
SAINT LOUIS II—Joshua Marr 0, Pakela Olanolan 0, Joel Letoto 0, Imaiokalani Park 0, Zachary Baysa 6, Dominic Bush 1, Andrew Pacarro 9, Joseph Kea 0, Dallas Smith 3, Kupono Chang 0, Alex Pacheco 16, Mason Kaui 0, Afi Greig 2, Zachary Cuarisma 18.
3-point goals—Christian Academy 2 (Ocol 2). Saint Louis 6 (Pacarro 3, Baysa 2, Smith).
Also
Varsity boys
‘Iolani 61, Hawaiian Mission Academy 41
Junior varsity boys
Hanalani 43, Hawaiian Mission Academy 24
St. Francis 43, University 41
Monday’s late result
Kapolei 69, Campbell 52
At Campbell
| KAPOLEI (1-0) |
3 |
20 |
26 |
20 |
— |
69 |
| CAMPBELL (0-1) |
12 |
12 |
5 |
23 |
— |
52 |
KAPOLEI—Jared Ragasa 0, Dorien Antonio Martos 7, Kiatrell Zachery 0, Curtis Tavares 21, Elia McKeague 0, Joshua Wills 20, Joshua Farius 0, Kula Seno 0, Kaleo Soares 1, Christopher Dillard 14, Michael Bangel 2, Zachery Reeves 4, Michael Kapoi 0.
CAMPBELL—Brannon Bantolina 3, Ryan Francis Ramil 2, BJ Halmos 8, Manuel Sy Jr. 7, Micah Cadiente 0, Donovan Poniatowski 0, Justin Silva-Freeman 6, Justin Tago-Su‘e 4, Aaron Steele 16, Jarrin Bannister 2, Solomon Leaeno 4, Javen Burdett 0.
3-point goals—Kapolei 4 (Tavares 3, Wills). Campbell 5 (Halmos 2, Bantolina, Sy Jr., Steele).
Junior varsity—Campbell 62, Kapolei 39
GIRLS ILH DIVISION II
Hanalani 53, Lanakila Baptist 26
Sarah Liva scored a game-high 21 points as the Royals defeated the Warriors.
Jessica Sonson scored 10 points for Lanakila Baptist.
At Hanalani
| LBS (1-7) |
10 |
4 |
4 |
8 |
— |
26 |
| HANALANI (4-2) |
12 |
13 |
9 |
19 |
— |
53 |
LANAKILA BAPTIST—Jeizelyn Pananganan 6, Erika Ellis 6, Jessica Sonson 10, Pomai Ono 0, Rebecca Caruthers 2, Kat Walker 2, Bethesda Camacho 0, Summer Guerrero 0.
HANALANI—Lyna Kehler 7, Dylan McCorquodale 3, Brittany Williams 4, Emily Araki 2, Sarah Hyde 8, Malia Boullion 4, Keani Sato 0, Tyler Okada 0, Nicole Gonzalez 4, Briana Robar 0, Sarah Liva 21.
3-point goals—Lanakila Baptist none. Hanalani none.
Also
Varsity girls
Kamehameha II 48, St. Francis 33
Junior varsity girls
Punahou-Gold 50, Maryknoll 37
‘Iolani 36, Kamehameha-White 34
