MAKIKI – This one went down to the wire.

Punahou used clutch free throw shooting down the stretch to close out Kamehameha, 57-55, for its sixth straight win in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I matchup at Hemmeter Fieldhouse Monday night.

The win propels the Buffanblu (6-1), ranked second in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Boys Basketball Power Rankings, to the top of the ILH Division I standings.

Punahou found themselves down by two headed into the second quarter but used their full court pressure to force turnovers. The Buffanblu opened the period with three steals, which led to an 8-0 run that concluded with a Chris Kobayashi layup, giving them a 22-16 lead and forcing a Kamehameha timeout.

"Honestly, that's the part where we play the best, where we're running up and down," said Kobayashi. "That's our pace, when we get to play fast like that."

Punahou would never give the advantage back to its opponent.

The Buffanblu had an answer for every Warrior run and maintained a 41-35 lead heading into the final stanza. After back-to-back layups by Cole Mausolf and Kobayashi, Punahou held its largest lead of the contest at 49-40 with 2:48 remaining. 

"We just wanted to get up and down, run, put pressure on them and share the ball," said Punahou coach Darren Matsuda.

Just as the game seemed like it was going to turn into a blowout victory for the home team, the Warriors made their run.

Christmas Togiai started the furious comeback attempt with a hard drive to the basket. On the next Kamehameha possession Kobe Young drew a foul, sinking the backend of two free throws before stealing the Punahou inbounds pass and finishing a layup plus the foul. Young would complete the three-point play and pull his team within three with 1:22 remaining. 

From there it was all free throw shooting for the Buffanblu, who were able to slice through the Kamehameha full court pressure in the final moments and force intentional fouls. 

Zayne Chong was sent to the charity stripe twice, where he went 4-for-4 while Hunter Hosoda was fouled three times, going 4-for-6 from the line. 

Kamehameha cut the lead to two with 18 seconds remaining after Hosoda's rare misses but were unable to force a turnover on the following inbounds pass.

After Chong's free throws pushed it back to a four point game, Togiai drove the ball down court and sank a layup as time expired, but it was too little too late for the Warriors. 

Kobayashi expects that this game will prove as a valuable experience when his team faces the playoffs. 

"It definitely gets us ready for the state tournament. At states every single game is going to be like this," said Kobayashi. "It's gonna be tough so, this kind of late game play is going to help us kind of prepare for those games."

Although Chong and Hosoda made their free throws in the closing minute, Matsuda wasn't happy with the team's 12-for-21 effort from the line.

"Hopefully we gain some experience off of it, I mean we've got to get better down the stretch at hitting free throws," said Matsuda. "We're usually a good free throw shooting team, we didn't do as well as I wanted to down the stretch and that kept them in the ball game a little bit."

Young led all scorers with 23 points including one 3-pointer and Togiai added 15.

Kobayashi led Punahou with 13 points and one 3-pointer, while Kaulana Makaula chipped in 9.

Punahou will look for its seventh consecutive win on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at Saint Louis (1-5). Kamehameha will host Maryknoll (5-1) on the same day.