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Brandon Ching | ScoringLiveFebruary 14, 2022, 9:48pm
Mon, Feb 14, 2022 @ Punahou
MANOA—Laynee Torres-Kahapea poured in a season-high 22 points to help No. 7 Punahou advance past pesky Radford, 47-35 in the opening round of the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Division I Girls Basketball Championships at Hemmeter Fieldhouse Monday.
The Buffanblu take on third seed and No. 3 Lahainaluna in the quarterfinal round at McKinley on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.
After playing Iolani, Kamehameha, and Maryknoll multiple times in the ILH, Punahou welcomed a new opponent and challenge.
"It felt good for a change. We played everyone back-to-back every week and it was good for us to face an OIA team. They're tough and scrappy, they came out to fight and they gave us a good run," Torres-Kahapea said, who shot 7 of 12 from the field and had a block and a steal.
The Rams got a gritty 15 points, nine rebound performance from Angel Asaah, who shot 9 of 13 from the charity stripe, but end their season with a 13-4 overall record.
"Radford is a very scrappy bunch. We were fortunate to have a game with them in the preseason and I know Charles (Chong) for a while. They're a great bunch and he brought them along very nicely. They play very hard and we're very fortunate to get the win, it could've gone either way. It's been a while since we've been here so it's a good start for us and we'll see what we do Thursday," Punahou coach Gary Pacarro said.
Punahou led, 12-6 going into the second quarter and extended it to nine, 17-8 following Kuualoha Lloyd's 3-pointer. Lloyd scored all nine of her points from the perimeter on 3-for-5 shooting and finished with eight rebounds and four steals.
Radford went on a 7-0 run after Jirah Villanueva knocked down a pair of free throws, Khloe Williams converted an assist from Asaah, and Villanueva nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing to get within two, 17-15.
"They (Radford) made it a challenge, their ball pressure is amazing. They all worked together. I think when we slowed down our offense, we got better and took control of the game to play our pace and not theirs," Torres-Kahapea said.
Torres-Kahapea ended the quarter making all four of her free throws to give the Buffanblu a 21-15 lead at halftime.
Villanueva drained a triple from the left corner and Mailana Mattos hit a baseline shot to get the Rams within one, 21-20 early in the third quarter.
Keilani Stewart gave Punahou some breathing room after converting the three-point play, but Asaah answered with a turnaround in the paint.
The Buffanblu went on a 7-0 run sparked by Torres-Kahapea's second 3-pointer of the game from the left wing, Davina Li added a steal and layup in transition and Torres-Kahapea dropped a floater in the lane for a 31-22 lead.
"It's all because of my teammates. Their defensive effort is amazing and their on-ball pressure that's what we worked on in practice. Going from defense to offense this week, we stressed on picking up full court and running out and getting in the lanes," Torres-Kahapea said.
Asaah was fouled on a rebound and putback, but Shayna Suzuki, despite battling foul trouble got to the rim to give Punahou a 33-25 lead going into the fourth.
Punahou turned up the pressure and scored off of turnovers with Torres-Kahapea leading the charge by getting to the basket and scored eight points in the quarter to put the Buffanblu up big.
Radford committed 21 turnovers and the Buffanblu managed to score 28 points off of turnovers.
"We scouted them well and defense is what we prided ourselves in. Whether it be half court and today we decided to put in our press and fortunately it worked out for us," Pacarro said.
Punahou led by as much as 18 at one point. Asaah shot 4 for 4 from the free throw line to finish with six in the final stanza and Williams added a late bucket for the Rams' final points.
Punahou committed 20 fouls compared to Radford's 10.
"We were fortunate that Laynee stepped up and all of a sudden she turned her game on. We got some key rebounds. I told the girls, we're not going to get the calls so you gotta play," Pacarro said.
Punahou shot 16 of 35 (45.7 percent) from the field, 6 of 13 (46.2 percent) from 3-point land, 9 for 11 (81.8 percent) from the free throw line.
Radford shot 10 of 30 (33.3 percent) from the field, was 2 of 6 from 3, and 13 of 23 (56.5 percent) from the free throw line.
Radford won the battle of the boards, out rebounding Punahou, 26 to 20.
Mailana Mattos was held to a season-low two points but collected five rebounds and four steals in the loss.
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