Chris Kobayashi, who scored a game-high 27 points against Kalaheo, drives to the hoop against the Mustangs. CJ Caraang | SL

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Sat, Dec 3, 2016 @ Radford

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Punahou

64

Kalaheo

54

Final	1	2	3	4
Punahou (11-3, 26-6)	18	17	19	10	64
Kalaheo (10-4, 17-11)	20	12	14	8	54

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

C. Whitlock 22 pts  2 3pm  2/4 FTs

C. Kobayashi 27 pts  5 3pm  2/2 FTs

C. Whitlock 8 tot  3 off  5 def

D. Whitaker 4 tot  2 off  2 def

N. Woodby 3 ast

H. Hosoda 3 ast

ALIAMANU — Chris Kobayashi was dialed in Saturday night.

Led by a game-high 27 points from the senior shooting guard and a spirited defensive effort, Punahou pulled away from a weary Kalaheo team, 64-54, on the final day of the 18th annual James Alegre Invitational.

The Buffanblu (3-0) rallied from a five-point first quarter deficit and outscored the Mustangs (2-2) over the final three periods, 46-34.

Kobayashi hit five 3-pointers — four of them in the first half — and had 22 points by halftime. He made his first nine shots from the field, including four triples.

"We work on just being really efficient and I thought he had a really efficient game and shot good shots," Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said. "He's an extraordinarily good shooter and on the the shots he took, his feet were set and he was coming off picks that were set really well and so when he scores like that, it's perfect for us when he gets looks like that."

Kobayashi's first 3-pointer was part of a string of seven straight points he scored to give the Buffanblu a 12-5 lead midway through the first quarter. Kalaheo pulled back ahead with a 15-3 run that was capped by Andrew Kearney's baseline floater, but Kobayashi closed out the first quarter with a deep 3 from the right wing to pull Punahou within 20-18.

Kearney hit a 16-foot jumper to culminate a 10-4 Mustangs' run that tied it at 30 with 2:11 left in the second quarter.

Punahou took the lead for good on a driving layup by Zayne Chong on its next possession and took a 35-32 lead into halftime.

Chong hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to help the Buffanblu close out the third quarter on a 7-2 run and take a 54-46 lead into the final period.

"I think that was probably the biggest shot of the game," Kobayashi said. "If Zayne didn't hit that shot, they probably would have gone on a little run, but I think their will was really broken with that shot, so it was a good way to start the fourth quarter."

Chong hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 12 points off the bench to lead the Punahou second unit, which accounted for 22 points.

Matsuda said he was pleased with the second-half effort from his team.

"I thought (Kalaheo) out rebounded us a lot in the first half and they were getting to 50-50 balls, so we made it a big emphasis to really try and take care of that in the second half and clean that up a little bit," Matsuda said.

Kalaheo was unable to cut into the Punahou lead in the final quarter. The Buffanblu led by as many as 13 following a David Whitaker free throw with 2:58 left to play.

Captain Whitlock scored 22 points and Andrew Kearney 17 to lead the Mustangs. Whitlock scored 40 points against Saint Louis Wednesday, but sat out Friday's seven-point loss to St. Francis to nurse a groin injury. Kalaheo coach Rob Pardini said Whitlock was "probably 75 to 80 percent" healthy Saturday, but it was only part of a bigger problem for his team.

"We've been going at it — this was our ninth game in fourteen days — so we're going to get some rest," Pardini said.

The fatigue was evident for the Mustangs, who shot just 50 percent (14 of 28) from the free-throw line, but Pardini credited the Buffanblu for taking it to his team.

"That's a very good team," Pardini said. "They're very strong at all positions and they can get up and down the floor, so it wore down on us. Our rotation right now is pretty slim."

Only eight players saw court time for Kalaheo. Conversely, Punahou went 13 deep for the third straight game.

Kalaheo's poor free-throw shooting negated 28 fouls called against Punahou.

"We have to just learn how to play with it (because) our coach really stresses on-ball defense and really playing hard to the line, but we know we have to cut down on the fouls and learn how to control being aggressive" Kobayashi said.

Both teams will take part in next week's OIA-ILH Challenge, which takes place at Moanalua from Thursday through Saturday.