Maryknoll blows by Mililani, 71-49

Maryknoll's Josh Burnett slams home two of his game-high 25 points against Mililani. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Hawaii Kai – In the opening game of the inaugural Cougar Winter Basketball Classic defending ILH champion the Maryknoll Spartans (11-2) had no holiday spirit for their opponent, toppling the Mililani Trojans (3-6), 71-49.

Maryknoll came out focused on defense, holding Mililani to just 4 points in the 1st quarter.

"We're a long team and if we're in position to play defense we're able to do well," Maryknoll head coach Kelly Grant commented about his defense.

The Spartans were led early by their dynamic duo of Josh Burnett and Kaleb Gilmore. Senior guard Burnett was the game's top scorer with 25 points, 3 assist, and 3 steals, while junior guard Kaleb Gilmore dropped 11 points in the first quarter and finished with 22 points and 2 assists.

"We've (Burnett) played together since my freshmen year and we play on the same club team," remarked Gilmore about his teammate Burnett.

The combination of Gilmore and Burnett gave Mililani fits all night as the tandem worked together to help the Spartans build a 38-15 lead at the half.

"In the beginning the size kind of bothered us, we kind of rushed our shots and then we got into foul trouble," said Mililani head coach Ed Gonzales.

A totally different Trojans team came out after halftime.

After a Gilmore drive and score at the six minute mark to make it 45-20, Mililani went on an 11-3 run and closed to within 17 points.

The Trojans' Cody Sison scored 10 points in the third quarter comeback, and Mililani was led offensively by Noel Bueno who finished with 12 points and 4 rebounds overall.

"At half we told them we got to stay out of foul trouble, we know we can play with them, we got into our half court sets, and we were actually successful," Gonzales commented about what was said at the half.

Down the stretch, Maryknoll's offense was just too much for the Trojans, who did not get any closer than the 17 points in the third quarter.

The Spartans got bench help courtesy of freshmen forward Kamakana Winquist who hit three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. "We have three guys who are shooting close to forty percent from the 3-point line so it's going to be hard to defend us, Kamakana comes off the bench and he's leading our team," said Grant.

In the round robin format of the Cougar Winter Basketball Classic, Mililani will take on Waiakea at 5:30 p.m. while Maryknoll will challenge host Kaiser in the night cap at 7:00 P.M. both games will be at Kaiser Gym.