Punahou guard Nick Velasquez takes the ball to the basket against Benson Tech. Nick Ha | Special to SL

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Benson Tech's Abdi Rashid Abdi puts up a shot against Punahou. Nick Ha | Special to SL

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Fri, Dec 21, 2012 @ Punahou

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Benson Tech

51

Punahou

49

Final	1	2	3	4
Benson Tech	15	15	13	8	51
Punahou (8-4, 22-8)	10	17	10	12	49

D. Watanabe 12 pts  2 3pm  2/2 FTs

F. Norman 12 pts  2/2 FTs

Jordan Ewell, Vonte Carter, and Frank Norman have been the leaders offensively for the Techmen in the Punahou Invitational, but it was Abdi Rashid Abdi off the bench with the buzzer beater to nudge Benson Tech into the Invitational Finals.

Abdi would get the long offensive rebound with less than two seconds left in regulation and drive along the baseline to float the game-winner in the hoop as the buzzer sounded.

"I was just trying to drive it in and get the bucket," Abdi said.  "I knew we was low on time so I was trying to take it all the way."  Abdi scored 6 points in the win.

Benson Tech moves on to face G.W. Carver in the Punahou Invitational Finals.

"It was a great game, a real test for our kids to come over across the water and play against a well-coached team and a team with such talent," said Benson Tech Head coach Troy Berry on the win. "I'm pleased that we came out victorious."

Frank Norman got things started for the Techmen in the 1st quarter as he drove to the hoop and finished with a nice reverse lay-up, but it was Punahou's Kupono Fey commanding the post early on in the game.  Fey would get the first three rebounds for the Buffanblu and his first points of the game came on an offensive rebound put back.

"I just wanted to help my team out," said Fey.  "That was the best way I could contribute; our shots weren't really falling at first, so I just needed some boards to put some points on the board." Fey finished the game with 10 points.

Justin Kam completed a 3 point play opportunity giving Punahou a 10-8 lead but Benson Tech closed out the quarter on a 7-0 run.  Shylo Joseph would tie it up at 10 a piece with a nice post move and an Anthony Ross trey gave the Techmen a lead they would maintain throughout the entire game.

Benson Tech played a squeaky clean 1st quarter committing their first turnover just seconds before the period ended.  Techmen held a 15-10 lead entering the 2nd quarter.

Things got a bit sloppy for Benson Tech as they would commit back to back turnovers to start the 2nd quarter.  Benson Tech committed 19 turnovers in the game to Punahou's eleven.

Fey would help Punahou climb back in the 2nd quarter from the early deficit.  Fey had two offensive boards in the quarter that he converted into points as well as a nice offensive "tap back" to a wide open Randon Oda for three.  However, Punahou would not be able to regain the lead as Benson Tech sporadically made baskets to keep the Buffanblu at bay.

Micah Ma'a faked out a defender into thinking he was going to drive to the basket with a jab step, and then had a nice step back three-point jumper to end the first half with Benson Tech leading 30-27.

Punahou came out of the break guns blaring as Fey hit a nice jumper just inside the arc and Dayson Watanabe rattled five straight to tie the game at 36 points apiece which got the crowd in the game.  Benson Tech would then go on a 7-1 run to close the quarter capped off by a Cameron Retherford trey to give the Techmen a 43-37 lead heading into the final quarter of play.

Nick Velasquez sparked a furious comeback for the Buffanblu as he garnered three early 4th quarter steals to help tie things up at 43 points apiece but just as it has been all game, Benson Tech would make buckets to preserve the lead.  Things got a little hard on defense for the Buffanblu as Kupono Fey picked up his 4th foul of the game midway through the 4th quarter and was at risk of fouling out.

Despite losing the turnover battle, Benson Tech didn't let any easy baskets through as Punahou lived at the charity stripe attempting nine 4th quarter free throws.  Punahou was 9 of 12 shooting from the line while Benson Tech only made 4 of their 11 attempts.  While the Techmen in general didn't shoot well from the line, Frank Norman converted on both of his attempts to give Benson Tech a 49-46 lead.

With 1:27 remaining in regulation, Punahou called time-out to draw up a play.  Watanabe hit a corner trey out of the time-out to tie things up 49-49 which brought the crowd to its feet.
 
"The play wasn't designed for me, it was designed for someone else," said Watanabe on his three-point shot to tie the game.  "It just so happen that I was there in the right spot, at the right time."  Watanabe finished the game as the Buffanblu's leading scorer with 12 points.

Benson Tech would dribble out the clock and get one last shot to break the dead lock.  It appeared that the game would head into overtime before Abdi gathered the long offensive rebound and floated the basket into the hoop for the win.

"It was a good battle, that's a really good team out of Oregon," said Punahou Head coach Darren Matsuda.  "I thought our kids battled, played hard, came back from a little bit of a deficit, ball just didn't bounced our way in the end.  The experience for us is invaluable; to get a good close game like this against a great quality team is great and we'll take it. "

G.W. CARVER 61, WILSON 39

Jeremy Johnson led all scorers with 15 points as Carver plows through Wilson.  The Rams jumped out to an early 11-0 lead that they would not relinquish.  Carver has won their games in the Punahou invitational by an average of 26.3 points.