Maryknoll sophomore Aloha Akaka lines up for a 3-point shot in the first quarter against Lahainaluna. Michael Lasquero | SL

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Maryknoll guard Jalen Tanuvasa pulls up for a jumper inside the lane against Lahainaluna. Michael Lasquero | SL

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Thu, Nov 8, 2018 @ McKinley

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Lahainaluna

53

Maryknoll

71

Final	1	2	3	4
Lahainaluna (14-0, 19-6)	11	19	9	14	53
Maryknoll (8-5, 19-5)	14	24	18	15	71

A. Akaka 18 pts  7/9 FTs

A. Akamine 22 pts  16/21 FTs

KAKAAKO — Thursday's opening day of the Matsumoto Law Group McKinley Girls Basketball Black and Gold Classic provided an opportunity for a pair of perennial Division I state championship contenders to get in some quality competition early in the preseason.

Between Maryknoll and Lahainaluna, the teams have finished in the top four in each of the last four state tournaments, but both are looking to fill voids left by large graduating classes last year.

Paced by the hot shooting of twin sisters, sophomores Aloha and Mahalo Akaka, the Spartans (2-0) pulled away from the Lunas (0-1), 71-53, before a small late afternoon crowd at the Tigers' Student Council Gymnasium.

Aloha Akaka scored a team-high 18 points, including 7 of 9 on free throws, and Mahalo added 14 points with three of her team's five 3-pointers. Jalen Tanuvasa and Lilly Koki chipped in 10 points apiece for Maryknoll.

The Spartans shot 40.7 percent (22 of 54) from the field, 22.7 percent (5 of 22) from beyond the arc and 61.1 percent (22 of 36) from the free-throw line.

Abigail Akamine scored 16 of her game-high 22 points at the free-throw line in a losing effort. She took 21 total attempts from the charity stripe and had 14 points by halftime.

The Lunas were 40 percent (12 of 30) shooting on field goals, 14.2 percent (1 of 7) on 3-pointers and 63.6 percent (28 of 44) at the line.

There were 51 total fouls called, 34 of them against Lahainaluna. Maryknoll enjoyed the double bonus for the entirety of both the second and fourth quarters.

"I thought it was a little ragged," Spartans coach Chico Furtado said. "I think the youth and the pace of the game — the way we want to play and the way Lahaina plays — a little ragged. A lot of fouls, but I liked the intensity that we create defensively. Our first group is very athletic, we just gotta get them to slow a little bit down offensively. We're trying to teach defensive chaos, offensive poise, right? The transition is sometimes hard."

Maryknoll guard Jalen Tanuvasa pulls up for a jumper inside the lane against Lahainaluna. Michael Lasquero | SL    Purchase image

Maryknoll, which posted a 28-3 overall record last season and has finished second to Konawaena in each of the last three state tournaments, has to replace all five starters from a season ago, including All-Hawaii selections in 6-foot-1 center Bella Cravens (First Team, graduated), four-year starting guard Rhianne Omori (Second Team, graduated) and three-year starter Kamalu Kamakawiwoole (transferred to Kalani).

Shortly after the completion of the game, the Spartans departed McKinley to take on King Kekaulike of Maui in the Moanalua 25th Annual Peek Tournament. While they battled westbound freeway traffic, Lahainaluna coach Todd Rickard took the time to address his young squad.

"It's no different than any other team — everybody lost a lot of people and they have young players — and we have nine freshmen and sophomores and just to get them in the rotation and trying to get them this kind of exposure and experience, it's a different story," said Rickard, whose team is coming off a third-place finish in February's state tournament.

It was the ninth time in the last 10 seasons that the Lunas reached the final four. They have won 148 consecutive games in Maui Interscholastic League play and captured the last 14 league titles, but aside from All-Hawaii First Team forward Susitina Namoa, Rickard has a slew of new faces on this roster.

The loss to the reigning three-time Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion Spartans can only serve as a positive in Rickard's eyes.

"You can't beat playing against a team that is always top four in the state — and so are we — but I think there's a lot of stuff we can work on as far as offensively and defensively. I think we just weren't as aggressive as we needed to be. I'm kind of encouraged at some things I saw and I know throughout the season we'll fix it," said Rickard, who coached the Lunas to their only state title in 2010 and runner-up finishes in back-to-back seasons in 2014 and 2015.

Among the top losses for Lahainaluna this offseason was First Team All-Hawaii guard Braeanna Estabillo-Donato — who was selected as MIL D1 Player of the Year by The Maui News last season — along with fellow all-league selection Rachael Balagso.

"The whole idea for preseason is to come out, see what you need to work on before the season starts and when the postseason comes, then you gotta be prepared and you gotta be ready and there is no excuse about being young because a lot of teams are young — Maryknoll is young, everybody is young — we just cannot use that as any excuse," Rickard said.

The Lunas will face two more teams from the ILH in as many days when they play Iolani at 5 p.m. Friday and Kamehameha at 1 p.m. Saturday. Both games will be played at McKinley.

Maryknoll will play Le Jardin at 5 p.m. Friday and Maui at 8 a.m. Saturday in games at Moanalua before returning to Black and Gold play against Mililani at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and the host Tigers at 5:30 p.m. Monday.