Westchester's Elijah Stewart drives the baseline against Kamehameha. Brien Ing | SL

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Superior athleticism carried Los Angeles Westchester over Kamehameha, 70-34, Wednesday night in an opening-round game of the 'Iolani Classic boys' basketball tournament at the Raiders' gym.

The Comets will play the Hamilton Wildcats of Milwaukee, Wisc., at 8 p.m. Thursday in a quarterfinal at 'Iolani's lower gym.

Elijah Stewart scored 15 points to lead the Comets followed by Nick Hamilton's 14.

Kamehameha's Noa Kinimaka led all scorers with 16 points. No other Warrior had more than five points.

The Wildcats used  runs of 10-0 and 14-3 in taking a commanding 27-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.  The Warriors couldn't get their offense going against the pressing Wildcats.

"We have to knock down our shots," Kamehameha's first-year coach Greg Tacon. "We took only 13 shots in that first half."

The defending Los Angeles City League champions are expected to be better this season for Ed Azzam, entering his 34th season as coach of the Comets.

"We have a lot of returnees," Azzam said. "This year, we're expected to be good."

Only three of the Comets' 12 players stand under 6 feet, 4 inches.  The 6-4 Stewart has a verbal commitment to Loyola Marymount.

Despite the lopsided score, Tacon was pleased that his team played hard enough to force the Comets to play at their best.  He said typically when the superior Mainland teams start pulling away, they tend to just go through the motions.

"We forced them to play harder," Tacon said.

"They played hard," Azzam said of the Warriors. "They did a lot of good things out there."

The Comets' height and athleticism showed in nearly all aspects of the game. They out-rebounded the Warriros, 39-22; had 11 steals to Kamehameha's three; and shot 48 percent from the field to Moanalua's 31 percent.

Kamehameha will play Moanalua in a consolation-bracket game at 2 p.m. Thursday.  Tacon coached the previous seven seasons at Moanalua.