Zelston Militante (1) drives to the basket and led Leilehua with 14 points in their win over Punahou. Brandon Ching | SL

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Brandon Ching | SL

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Brandon Ching | SL

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Brandon Ching | SL

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Brandon Ching | SL

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Sat, Dec 10, 2022 @ Kaimuki

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Punahou

55

Leilehua

58

Final	1	2	3	4
Punahou (7-6, 21-9)	20	7	14	14	55
Leilehua (10-4, 16-10)	15	10	18	15	58

Z. Militante 14 pts  2/4 FTs

D. Kellner 13 pts  1 3pm  0/0 FTs

Leilehua clung onto a late lead and held off Punahou, 58-55, in the closing seconds to win the Kaimuki Invitational Saturday night.

The Mules faced the Buffanblu in the Jim Alegre Invitational at Radford last week and led by as much as eight before Punahou rallied and pulled away in the second half to win, 57-43. Leilehua outlasted Kahuku, 79-69 in overtime to reach the final to set up a rematch with Punahou.

"I felt the biggest thing that we corrected from last week was the turnovers. Punahou put so much pressure on ball and I think we turned it over at least 20 times. That was the big factor. Free throws, rebounds, and turnovers will be the deciding factor," Leilehua coach Chad Townsend said.

Tonight was a different story as Zelston Militante led a balanced Mule attack with 14 points. Twain Wilson and Willie Cooper, each starters, added nine and eight respectively.

Ashtin Martinson came off the bench to score 13 points and Ui Muti added eight points and three blocks.

"That kid (Martinson) did not get much playing time last year. He put in a lot of work this offseason and it helps that guys like Z, Twain, and Pule out there, it doesn't put much pressure on Ashtin. He knows that he's the sixth man and give us that instant energy and just play his game," Townsend said.

Punahou averaged 94.5 points in two games prior to the tournament final. Dillon Kellner led the Buffanblu with 13 points, Lam had 11 and Uperesa-Thomas with eight and Burnett added seven to round out the scoring for the starters.

Pule Atualevao drove it to make it, 45-41 to open the fourth quarter. Punahou scored the next five points after Ayndra Uperesa-Thomas converted Noah Macaulay's assist and Justice Wu hit his second triple.

Tucker Lam drained a deep three from the right wing to extend the lead, 49-45. Matteus Ioane added a bucket for the Mules and Wilson hit a floater in the lane, drew a blocking foul on Kekai Burnett, and completed the 3-point play to reclaim the lead.

Martinson's layup extended the lead to three, 52-49, but Uperesa-Thomas' basket from the left block got it back to one. Leilehua got into the bonus and Martinson and Militante combined to hit four free throws.

Macapulay hit a shot just inside the arc but Martinson answered on the other end with a left-handed layup in transition. Uperesa-Thomas cleaned up a missed shot with a putback with 6.5 seconds left.

Leilehua was called for a five second violation for failing to inbound the ball in time giving back to Punahou on the baseline. After a deflection, the Buffanblu inbounded it from the sideline. Jon Yoshimoto had a look from the left corner but it hit back iron and Atualevao secured the rebound as time ran out.

"We played well defensively, but Punahou, some of their shots they typically hit, we got lucky especially at the end. 50 percent of the time, that kid hits the three in the corner that we gave up so there's a lot of things we need to clean up," Townsend said.

Punahou appeared to start running away with the game with an eight point lead in the first quarter, but Martinson hit a 3-pointer to trail, 20-15 going into the second quarter.

Leilehua chipped away and took the lead after consecutive baskets from Muti but Kellner swished a 3-pointer to take a 27-25 lead going into halftime.

The Buffanblu started the third quarter with an 8-0 run off transition buckets from Kellner and Lam. Cooper hit a pair of free throws, Wilson's steal and layup and Militante followed up with another steal and layup tied it at 35.

There were three lead changes until Martinson's field goal from underneath gave the Mules a 43-41 lead going into the fourth.

Both teams will be participating in the Iolani Classic next week. Leilehua takes on Mount Saint Joseph (Baltimore, Maryland) on Friday, Dec. 16 while Punahou faces Milton (Georgia) on the next night.