Punahou's Justin Kam elevates for a shot attempt against Moanalua. Peter Caldwell | SL

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120414_1302_punmoa_016a.jpg - Peter Caldwell | SL

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Dayson Watanabe did not take long to shake off the rust from a long football season by scoring a game-high 18 points off the bench to lead Punahou past Moanalua, 51-38, Thursday night at the 16th James Alegre Basketball Invitational at the James Alegre Gym at Radford.

Watanabe, a defensive back for the Division I state football runners-up, shot 7 of 8 from the free throw line - all in the second half - and had four steals to lead the Buffanblu to their second win in as many games to start the preseason. Justin Kam added 12 points, half on two of his 3-pointers.

Karson Kruz had nine points to lead Na Menehune, who were making their season debut.

The Buffanblu, who list 15 on their roster, were short five players either to injuries or to choir obligations, coach Darren Matsuda said. Among the missing were 6-foot-3 Micah Ma's and 6-4 sophomore Jack-Eli Thompson-Tufono. Despite missing the two bigs, Punahou still managed to score 22 points in the paint.

"We're trying to establish that," Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said of his team's scoring inside the key. "Our two young posts - Jack Tufono wasn't here because he had a choir concert he had to go to - we're really trying to establish that because that will help us during the season. Both those guys are new players."

The other new post is 6-5 Akahi Troske, who had eight points, three defensive rebounds and a blocked shot.

Punahou established its press early, taking a 14-4 lead by the end of the first quarter. Moanalua turned over the ball seven times between its only two field goals of the quarter that came about six-and-half minutes apart. In all, Moanalua turned over the ball 21 times to Punahou's 10. Jordan Tanuvasa added three steals to Watanabe's team-leading four.

"We really need to work on our press," Matsuda said. "That's part of our culture and what we like to do. We're still trying to work out the kinks in that."

Punahou pretty much kept a double-digit lead most of the game. The closest Moanalua got after the first quarter was to within 46-38 with 38 seconds left in the game. But Watanabe put the game out of range for good by shooting 5 of 6 from the line in the closing 36 seconds.

Kyrie McRaven had eight points for Moanalua and led his team with six defensive boards. Sophomore RJ Dominguez came off the bench to chip in six second-half points.