Punahou's Elle Uyeda drives to the basket against Maryknoll. Evan Asato | SL

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Punahou's Tyra Moe puts up a free throw attempt in the closing seconds against Maryknoll. Evan Asato | SL

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Maryknoll's Cianna Ochoco puts up a jump shot against Punahou. Evan Asato | SL

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Punahou's Kamaile Kandiah puts up a jump shot against Maryknoll. Evan Asato | SL

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Maryknoll's Siena Shupe puts up a shot in the paint against Punahou. Evan Asato | SL

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The Punahou bench erupts in celebration after defeating Maryknoll to win the ILH Division I title. Evan Asato | SL

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Fri, Jan 31, 2014 @ Punahou

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Maryknoll

28

Punahou

29

Final	1	2	3	4
Maryknoll (9-3, 19-5)	4	8	12	4	28
Punahou (11-1, 16-2)	0	7	15	7	29

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

K. Kandiah 10 pts  4/4 FTs

C. Ochoco 8 pts  6/7 FTs

K. Fey 12 tot  3 off  9 def

M. Martin 6 tot  6 def

H. Motooka 2 ast

M. Martin 2 ast

MAKIKI – In their closest game of the year, it was a pair of freshmen who led the way for the Buffanblu.

Punahou, ranked No. 2 in the ScoringLive/OC16 Girls Basketball Power Rankings, rallied from an early first quarter deficit to turn back Maryknoll in the final minute, 29-28, at the Hemmeter Fieldhouse Friday night. With the win the Buffanblu clinches the Interscholastic League of Honolulu overall title, earning them the league’s seeded berth and first round bye in the Hawaiian Airlines Girls Division I Girls Basketball Championships, a 12-team field.

“What a game either way for either team, (just) both tough teams,” said Punahou coach Kevin Velasco. “Maryknoll I give them all the credit. They played tough all the way through; they had us in the beginning. We just had to fight and scramble.”

Freshman guards Kamaile Kandiah and Elle Uyeda accounted for 17 of the total 29 Buffanblu points in the win.  Kandiah scored a season-high 10 points and Uyeda scored all of her seven points in the second half.

“The young ones are having some confidence and coming through and playing well for us,” Velasco said on his two freshman guards. “That was huge for us down the stretch in a game like this.”

Missed free throws were a common theme for the Buffanblu, but Kandiah was able to buck the trend by going 4-for-4 at the line. Punahou finished going 13-for-23 at the line, while the Spartans were 9-for-14. 

“I just don’t take being a freshman into account, I play like I’m playing anybody,” said Kandiah. “(During) the Kamehameha game I missed four free throws. I just really wanted to make all my free throws because they count in clutch time as this game showed.”

The score was at 28 apiece – the first tie of the game – after Kandiah knocked down two free throws with 1:57 remaining in regulation. Maryknoll’s Maia Laboy had a chance to retake the lead with 1:04 left on the clock, but she missed both of her two free throw attempts at the line. This allowed Punahou to hold for the final shot of the game as they methodically worked the clock down before calling timeout with 23.1 remaining. 

Punahou’s Keaupono Fey was able to get a shot attempt off out of the timeout, but her shot attempt was off its mark. The game was prime for overtime, but Tyra Moe was there for the offensive rebound. Moe was hacked on the put back attempt sending her to the line with 4.1 remaining. She was able to knock down one of her two attempts to give Punahou their first lead of the game and the victory. 

“It’s huge,” exclaimed Moe. “It was a hard game throughout the whole beginning but we had to stay composed; we had to do it as a team. We just settled down and we were able to pull through.”

The Spartans were able to dictate the pace of the game by using chunks of the clock on a single possession. Using this strategy, Maryknoll was able to take a 4-0 lead after the first quarter. Maryknoll’s Cianna Ochoco and Siena Shupe were the only players who converted a shot attempt in the period.

“It’s tough but our kids just got to believe in our defense which pretty much carried us all year,” said Velasco.

It wasn’t till the second quarter when the Buffanblu were able to get their first points of the game. Punahou guard Hailey Motooka gathered a rebound and raced down the court, drawing two free throw attempts at the 6:37 mark of the second quarter. 

Punahou continued to show some more offense in the second quarter and was able to trim the lead to two at one point. In spite of this, the Spartans were able to take a five-point lead into the locker room thanks to a Laboy buzzer-beating corner trey. 

Maryknoll led 12-7 at halftime.

Determine to not make the start of the second half like the first, Uyeda went on a mini scoring spree on her own to cut the lead to one. She got her first point of the game at the line after she was fouled gathering an offensive rebound. The 5-foot-7 guard was back at it nearly 20 seconds later as she drove baseline for the layup and the harm. Uyeda completed the three-point play to give her four quick points in the first 42 seconds of the second half. 

“At halftime our coaches just said look to take it to the basket,” Uyeda said. “I just tried to do that and be aggressive. For me, I just knew that I needed to step it up so I figured if it’s open I’m going and I’m going hard.” 

Punahou continued to keep the score close in the third quarter, but was unable to get over the hump. Maryknoll led 24-22 heading into the fourth. 

The score continued to fluctuate between a one and three-point game in the final period, before Moe split a pair at the line to make it a two-point game with 2:59 remaining. Both teams traded missed free throws before Kandiah was able to get to the line for the equalizer. 

Moe’s free throw with 4.1 remaining finally got Punahou over the hump that was present for most of the game. Laboy’s prayer heave came up well short and the Buffanblu were able to come away with the 29-28 victory. 

“For us, we never give up until that buzzer goes off. We just told the kids we got to relax, we got to make sure that if they miss the shot that we got to get a rebound. We got a chance and the ball bounced in our favor,” said Velasco on their come from behind victory.

“It’s great; it feels so good,” added Moe. “It’s probably one of our best nights of our lives. There’s no better feeling than doing it for each other.”

Both teams had already punched their ticket into the 12-team state tournament with wins on Wednesday night. The Punahou win avoided a potential playoff game at Maryknoll for the league’s seeded berth. The 12-team state tournament gets underway Friday, Feb. 7.