Maryknoll's Joshua Burnett takes the ball to the rim against Kapolei. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Maryknoll guard Varrick Suezaki dribbles the ball upcourt against Kapolei. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kapolei's Kai Stridiron drives to the hoop against Maryknoll. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Maryknoll's Kamakana Winquist secures a rebound against Kapolei. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Dec 6, 2013 @ McKinley

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Kapolei

29

Maryknoll

53

Final	1	2	3	4
Kapolei (6-5, 6-12)	10	11	0	8	29
Maryknoll (10-3, 26-6)	10	10	18	15	53

J. Burnett 20 pts  1 3pm  9/14 FTs

K. Stridiron 8 pts  0/1 FTs

Maryknoll handled Kapolei, 53-29 in the Hawaii Self Storage McKinley Black and Gold Classic at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium on Firday night at 7 pm. Maryknoll and Kapolei were two teams that qualified for the State Tournament last year and the preseason is a chance for both teams to acclimate new faces and to figure out rotations and playing time.

"We try to spread out the playing minutes for the players to give them an opportunity to get some playing time when the regular season starts. As we wind down through the course of our preseason schedule then we start to work our players down to seven or eight, depending on who's playing well and who's not playing well. It's a good opportunity to play in all these tournaments because we get to play all kinds of styles--our first three games everyone played up and down the court and these last few games we saw a lot zone defenses so it was a good opportunity to see different things," said Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant.

After the first quarter, the game was tied at 10 after Maryknoll's Kamakana Winquist hit a three pointer before the buzzer sounded.

Kapolei outscored the Spartans 11-10 in the second quarter and held a 18-14 lead after Abdul-Kader Ziane found Dakota WIlliams for the basket. The Hurricanes took a 21-20 lead going into half time after a shot by Matthew Henderson.  

In the second half, it was all Maryknoll and the Spartans outscored the Hurricanes 33-8.

Kapolei was held scoreless in the third quarter and they had some open looks, but it didn't fall. The Spartans shot 4-of-23 from beyond the three-point line for the game, but Maryknoll got a spark from senior forward Josh Burnett. Defense led to offense as Maryknoll was able to get out in transition. Burnett scored 9-points in the quarter and had two steals he converted into fast break dunks. He also thew down a dunk as he was fouled with 11 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Burnett finished the game with 20-points and sank 9-of-14 free throws.

"We made an adjustment on their offense. so we switched on all their flex cuts and it made us more comfortable because we were in position to play defense and then we were in better position to rebound. We were chasing the guys all over the place in the first half and they were getting a lot of backdoor cuts and also driving to the lane. They must've had four or five layups without anyone defending it so we just played in front of them and we switched on all the cuts and that helped us out," said Grant.

"It started on the defensive end. At halftime coach got to us because we weren't blocking out and we focused on defense and we were able to get the ball and push it. We got steals and fast breaks. It's about not allowing them to make easy passes because right now teams are still trying to get used to playing with each other and there will be a lot of miscues so defense is what will make us go far," said Burnett.  

"Josh on the wing, he makes it difficult for passing lanes. They have a hard time swinging and passing it around and they can't pass the ball on their side so if the ball stays on one side of the floor it makes it predictable how we play defense," added Grant.  

Maryknoll also got contributions from freshman Kamakana Winquist who scored 15-points and grabbed more than five rebounds and five steals. He scored 7 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter. Kaleb Gilmore, according to Coach Grant, did not play because he was nursing a sprained ankle. Although it is only the preseason, Coach Grant is optimistic about his team once the regular season comes around.

"We haven't played with everyone yet. Josh yesterday had to take care of some homework and did not play yesterday. Kaleb didn't play because of a sprained ankle, if it was a regular season game, he would've tried and attempted to play but because this is a preseason game and we're traveling in a week or so, we want to make sure he's healthy going up to the mainland with us. Sean Ogata is going to be playing with us starting next week. Once we get Sean and Kaleb healthy then we're going to see our true identity and our team is going to be pretty good, we're going to be very athletic, a lot of shooters and a lot of guys who can jump. We're still trying to figure out who's playing where because we're doing a lot of switching like Sam Ahn, he normally plays on the wing, we had him down in the post and he's never played the post position in practice. A lot of guys are still a little bit confused with their roles and where they're supposed to be, but as time goes on in practices, scrimmages and preseason games, they're going to get more comfortable," said Grant.  

The Black and Gold Classic wraps up on Saturday and Maryknoll will play Kaimuki at 11:30 am while Kapolei plays Saint Louis at 1pm.