Maryknoll's Alexis Delovio dribbles the ball downcourt against Punahou. Steve Erler | Special to SL

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Sat, Jan 24, 2015 @ Punahou

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Maryknoll

42

Punahou

28

Final	1	2	3	4
Maryknoll (11-1, 20-3)	4	13	8	17	42
Punahou (9-4, 13-7)	7	4	8	9	28

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

V. Malufau 9 pts  3/5 FTs

M. Martin 11 pts  5/6 FTs

V. Malufau 10 tot

M. Martin 10 tot

V. Malufau 1 ast

R. Omori 1 ast

MAKIKI — Nevermind that there was essentially nothing to play for Saturday night. Maryknoll, which had already locked up the Interscholastic League of Honolulu regular-season title prior to the weekend, found some motivation and took it out on its neighbor across Wilder Avenue.

Maegen Martin scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Alexis Delovio scored six of her nine points in the second half to help Maryknoll to a 42-28 win over Punahou in the ILH regular-season finale for both teams at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

With the victory the third-ranked Spartans (10-0) completed an unblemished run through the ILH Division I slate. They had already clinched a spot in next month's 12-team state tournament and will be the top seed in the ILH postseason, which begins next week.

"I think in the back of our minds we thought, 'Oh yeah, it doesn't matter,' but I think this has been the first time in a long time that Maryknoll has gone undefeated in the ILH, so I think that's what drove us to want to win this game and plus, Punahou is our rival and we never want to lose to them, so that gave us the confidence and the determination to play hard against them and show them that we're better," said Martin, who was 5 of 6 from the free-throw line.

Martin was instrumental on the defensive side of the floor as well, helping to limit Punahou's twin towers in Vae Malufau and Tyra Moe to a modest 16 points combined.

"In this game particularly, coach expected a lot from me," Martin said. "I didn't expect to play the whole game, but I did — I came out only maybe once or twice — but I knew what I had to do. I had to control the bigs and not let them go off and have it be the 'Ty and Vae' show, but going in they were playing big against us and we had more guards. I told our guards to pressure their guards, because we could attack and I just told them to make good decisions and I did have help from the two freshmen — Moe (Notoa) and Isabelle (Cravens) — so they contributed a lot, too, so it wasn't just me. It was a team effort."

Maryknoll coach Chico Furtado credited his players to sticking to the game plan.

"We wanted to be quicker. I knew we were going to give up some size, but if we scrambled hard, I knew we could overcome that," Furtado said. "I thought we prepared well and the kids came out regardless that we clinched the ILH already. Anytime you got a good, tough game with Punahou, you want to come out and do your best."

Fifth-ranked Punahou went on a 4-0 run to close out the first quarter and took advantage of a nearly five-minute scoreless stretch for Maryknoll. However, the Spartans opened the second quarter on a 9-0 run that including a pair of quick buckets inside by Martin and was capped by a Kaile Cambra basket off the feed from Rhianne Omori.

"From the get-go, coach told us we had to bring it and that they weren't just going to give it to us, so I kept telling them to play hard and play smart and make good decisions and I think the fact that we were up and we were playing hard from the start, it gave us the confidence to know that we would win, so that just progressed throughout the game and at the end we came out with the victory so I'm proud of my team for that," Martin said.

Maryknoll held a 17-11 lead at halftime and a 25-19 edge after three quarters. Punahou couldn't close the gap to less than five points — partially due to a a slew of turnovers, but mostly because Maryknoll hit 12 of 19 free throws in the second half.

"I think, for the most part, our kids did a very good job executing our game plan," Furtado said. "Just down the stretch, we probably should have gotten ahead a little earlier — we missed five straight free throws — and when we're trying to extend to a six-point, seven-point lead and you don't make free throws, that kind of hurts."

Maryknoll played without guard Chayse Milne, who Furtado said was nursing an ankle injury.

Meanwhile, Punahou guard Kamaile Kandiah missed her sixth consecutive game due to a slightly torn meniscus. Buffanblu coach Kevin Velasco said he will find out early next week if she will be able to return for the postseason.

"Hopefully she does and we'll have that opportunity, (but) if not then we just have to keep fighting," Velasco said. "We think she'll be back, we're just not sure."

It was the Spartans' second win over the Buffanblu this season. They took the first meeting back on Jan. 8, 47-46.