ILH Girls Basketball
No. 7 Punahou clamps down on No. 2 Kamehameha


  



Sat, Dec 15, 2018 @ Kamehameha


Final 1 2 3 4  
Punahou (6-6, 11-6) 13 751944
Kamehameha (9-4, 18-7) 8 7 2 2340
K. Obrey 23 pts  11/12 FTs
K. Young 11 pts  5/6 FTs

KAPALAMA HEIGHTS — Kiara Young scored seven of her team-high 11 points in the fourth quarter to lift No. 7 Punahou to a 44-41 win over No. 2 Kamehameha in Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls basketball Saturday.

An afternoon crowd of about 300 fans at Kekuhaupio Gymnasium saw the Buffanblu (8-1 overall, 3-1 league) knock off the previously-unbeaten Warriors (8-3, 3-1) to force a three-way tie atop the ILH Division I standings.

Punahou put on a defensive clinic for much of the contest. It held a 25-17 lead at the end of three quarters of play — its largest of the game.

However, Kamehameha went on a 12-3 run to open the fourth quarter and took its only lead at 29-28 on a steal and layup by Noelle Sua-Godinet with 2:42 left to play.

Caitlyn Andrade-Tomimoto drained a straightaway 3-pointer on the next Buffanblu possession to reclaim the lead for good.

"What it does say is that these guys, that's what they do every day," Punahou interim coach Gary Pacarro said. "They compete at practice, they compete against each other every day and they're not afraid to take the shot and our game, everybody is a shooter. Everybody is a shooter."

The Warriors refused to go quietly. They were within one possession of the Buffanblu several times in the closing minutes, but the visitors fended them off each time by hitting 11 of their final 14 from the charity stripe.

"We practice that a lot and today it showed that we were just calm under pressure," said Young, who shot 5 of 6 on free throws — all coming in the final quarter.

Caitlyn Andrade-Tomimoto's (1) 3-pointer gave the Buffanblu the lead for good with under three minutes left in the game. CJ Caraang | SL    Purchase image

Camille Feary hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to pull Kamehameha with 42-40 with 7.7 seconds left, but Young sealed the victory by making both free throws on the other end.

Young, one of just two seniors on the roster, said she emphasized staying cool under pressure to the rest of her teammates while the Warriors were making their run.

"I mean, I just said ‘we have to stay calm, there's no use in getting flustered and then turning over the ball. We just have to stay calm under pressure,' and I think we did that well," Young said.

The Buffanblu, who overcame a game-high 23 points from San Jose State-bound Kalina Obrey, utilized a distinct size advantage in the post to record 15 offensive rebounds, which led to 10 second-chance points.

"This is huge for our team. We've been working on chemistry and I think it showed," Young said. "We were able to just play well with each other and we fed off of this energy, but hats off to Kamehameha, they played a strong game against us and Kalina Obrey gave our bigs some trouble, but they worked their (butts) off."

Obrey, who is averaging 17.8 points per game in ILH play this season, was hampered by foul trouble for much of the second half. After being called for a pair of first-half fouls, she drew her third and fourth fouls in the first 1:19 of the third quarter and was immediately taken out of the game. She did not return until the 6:42 mark of the fourth quarter.

Obrey had 11 points by halftime, was shut out in the third quarter, but netted 12 of her team's 23 points in the final stanza.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

Aiea sweeps top honors in OIA Division I-West baseball

Na Alii's Brennen Panis led Aiea in all hitting categories while going 6-0-1 on the mound in the regular...

Kailua's Burgo leads All-OIA D1 East Baseball selections

The senior Surfrider excelled in the field and on the mound to help the team earn their 15th OIA championship.

Waianae's Nagasako repeats as All-OIA Division II Baseball POY

The senior SS/P helped lead the Seariders to their first OIA championship since 2017.

Kahuku sweeps All-OIA Girls Water Polo top honors

Tuua Cravens named Player of the Year, with head coach Gina Ahue named Coach of the Year.

18th edition of Goodwill Softball Classic set for June 1-2

Round robin play begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at Sand Island, and both third place and championship games...

KSH's Santos delivered on the mound, at the plate; Kapaa's Furtado continued hit parade at states

The junior lefty from D2 baseball state champion Kamehameha-Hawaii was tabbed Most Outstanding Player,...