Punahou's Elle Uyeda puts up a jumper against Kamehameha. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kamehameha's Nicole Kaaihue secures a rebound against Punahou. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Punahou's Hailey Motooka drives to the basket against Kamehameha. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Thu, Jan 23, 2014 @ Punahou

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Kamehameha

38

Punahou

47

Final	1	2	3	4
Kamehameha (8-4, 14-5)	12	12	10	4	38
Punahou (11-1, 16-2)	3	14	12	18	47

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

T. Moe 16 pts  6/8 FTs

K. Ryder 10 pts  4/4 FTs

K. Fey 7 tot  4 off  3 def

A. Robins-Hardy 13 tot  3 off  10 def

S. Alakai 1 ast

K. Ryder 1 ast

MAKIKI – A big Buffanblu fourth quarter was the perfect way to end the regular season on senior night.

Punahou, ranked No. 2 in the ScoringLive/OC16 Girls Basketball Power Rankings, outscored Kamehameha by 14 points in the fourth quarter to come away with a 47-38, win at the Hemmeter Fieldhouse Thursday night. With the victory, the Buffanblu (9-1) clinches the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I regular season title and the top seed in the league’s playoffs. Punahou has also earned a spot in the 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Division I Girls Basketball Championships, a 12-team state tournament. 

“It was big for us,” Punahou coach Kevin Velasco said on their win after the game. “Especially here at Punahou, you want to get the kids, the seniors out on a good note. In the last game at home, you want to give them all of the glory. They’ve worked so hard, all four of our seniors played for us when they were freshmen. It’s so gratifying to see them get to this point.”

Leading the way for the Buffanblu was sophomore post Tyra Moe, scoring nine of her game-high 16 points in the fourth quarter.  Moe also finished with seven rebounds, tying a team-high with senior Keau Fey.

“It’s huge, we just came out fired,” said Moe. “We had to do it for our seniors because it’s their last game.”

To illustrate how much the underclassmen wanted to win this game for the senior class, the Buffanblu overcame a five-point fourth quarter differential to force Kamehameha to play the foul game in the final minute of regulation. This allowed senior Kaitlyn Waki to check into the game in the waning seconds of the game. Waki was kept from playing in any games up to this point due to a concussion she suffered prior to the start of the season.

Punahou had to play from behind for most of the game, trailing 12-3 after the first quarter. Even though the deficit was grand, Punahou patiently worked their way into the game, cutting the lead to five heading into the fourth quarter.

“We just told the kids we have to relax,” said Velasco. “We were kind of hyped up with senior night and the possibility with making states. Our kids were really over hyped; we just had to settle them down and just to play our ball. The first half we got killed; Kamehameha was all over the glass. Then we started to feel that we can play our own game. We told them to take it one step at a time. We had to slowly do it and not to force the play (and) the kids responded.”

The Buffanblu came out on fire to start the fourth quarter, going on a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the game with 5:10 remaining. Kamehameha came back to retake the lead near the two minute mark on a Nicole Kaaihue bucket, but the home team rattled 10 straight points to end the game, 47-38.

“The message basically was if you want this, it’s yours. You need to go out and take care of it,” Velasco said on their big fourth quarter. “They knew what was at stake, we didn’t really have to say anything else.” 

Despite getting outrebounded by the Warriors, 39-32, Punahou’s defense never wavered, holding Kamehameha to 30.3 percent shooting. The Buffanblu also did an exceptional job on defending Kamehameha’s Alohi Robins-Hardy, holding her to seven points on 1-of-16 shooting. Robins-Hardy was the ILH’s leading scorer heading into this game, averaging 17.2 points per game prior to the night’s contest.

“We know what kind of athlete she is,” Velasco said on Robins-Hardy. “Watching the box score against Iolani, she scored 21 points. When she gets the ball we just have to give her some space because we know she would love to drive, and then kind of pull-up, so we tried to eliminate that.”

Another contributing factor in the Buffanblu’s win was the turnover differential. Punahou only committed 10 turnovers, unlike the Warriors who committed 23. Most of Kamehameha’s turnovers were on bad passes; evident by the 10 steals accumulated by the Buffanblu. Generating the most steals was senior guard Hailey Motooka with five.

“Hailey is our glue to our team,” Velasco said on Motooka. “Being a senior she wants to get to the state tournament – she has a knack for those steals. We tell all our kids, if you have a chance, go get it. Our defense is getting tighter and tighter, and everybody is believing in each other that if we go for something, somebody’s going to help (on defense).

“She’s had multiple steals like that in the last five games, I think she’s averaged maybe four or five. (She came up with) some crucial ones tonight like that steal under the basket with about a minute and 10 or so. I’m just proud of her and the rest of our kids.”

Kamehameha guard Kea Ryder led the Warriors in the loss, posting 10 points with five assists, three rebounds and two steals.