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Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveDecember 12, 2022, 10:13pm
Mon, Dec 12, 2022 @ Kamehameha
KAPALAMA HEIGHTS — Led by its best player, No. 2 Punahou came away with a 55-45 road win over No. 3 Kamehameha on the opening night of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls basketball season Monday night.
Laynee Torres-Kahapea scored 24 points to power the Buffanblu (1-0) to a wire-to-wire victory over the Warriors (0-1) before a crowd of about 350 fans at Kekuhaupio Gymnasium.
Punahou led by as many as 12 in the final seconds after Kamehameha pulled to within a bucket at 45-43 with three minutes and 43 seconds to play.
"This is what it's gonna be like the whole season," Buffanblu co-coach Gary Pacarro said of the 12-game first-round slate in the ILH Division I, which includes reigning three-time state champion Iolani, No. 5 Maryknoll and No. 10 Damien along with Punahou and Kamehameha.
"We play each team three times and it's gonna be a battle every time we play each of the ILH schools," Pacarro added.
Torres-Kahapea, a senior guard and All-Hawaii First Team selection a year ago, made sure that the Buffanblu got off on the right foot. She had just seven points in the first half, but accounted for 17 of her team's 29 second-half points.
Punahou held a 41-34 lead after three quarters, but saw the Warriors chip away at its advantage with a 9-4 run to open the final period. Freshman center Nihoaokealii Dunn's putback cut it to 45-41 and Kya Kanoho drained a pair of free throws on Kamehameha's next possession to make it a one-score game, however, Torres-Kahapea drew a foul — the Warriors' seventh of the second half — to get to the free-throw line.
Torres-Kahapea drained both ends of the one-and-one bonus and then went on to convert her final six attempts from the line to stretch it back to a 10-point cushion with 1:23 left to play.
"A lot of times we've been very blessed to have some very talented seniors who pick-up the leadership with Laynee, Shania (Moananu), Nanea (Loa) — that's huge to have leadership like that," Pacarro said.
Torres-Kahapea forced a key Kamehameha turnover late. The Buffanblu also got a block by Davina Li in the final two minutes and some key rebounding from junior Pilialoha Lloyd.
"Pilialoha Lloyd played an outstanding game just being really a stalwart under the bucket, grabbing rebounds and being there," Pacarro said. "It was a team effort and we're very fortunate, but it's the first in many that we've got to get through."
The Warriors were led by Dunn, who scored nine of her team-high 13 points after halftime, and sophomore guard Mikylah Labanon, who hit three 3-pointers and finished with 12 points.
"I think it was a team effort; Our coaches gave us an assignment and then we came through with it," said Torres-Kahapea. "We helped our teammates, we helped our bigs, we did all we could to help them because (Dunn is) their biggest asset in the middle and then they started hitting outside shots and we just got back on offense and converted and stopped and addressed it and played high-intensity defense."
Rylee Paranada made a couple of 3s and scored eight points off the bench. Kya Kanoho also tallied eight points in the loss.
Loa, a senior forward, and Keilani Stewart, a junior guard, scored 11 points apiece for Punahou, which shot 18 of 22 from the free-throw line. Torres-Kahapea was 11 of 12 from the charity stripe and also tallied at least four assists.
"We're guard-heavy and our bigs are able to catch the ball and make lay-ups and as guards we needed to notice to attack the lanes and we attacked them, we exploited the gaps and we found our players and we finished," Torres-Kahapea said. "That's all we practice every day: finish, finish, finish."
Pacarro called for a timeout with 2:28 to play and his team nursing a 47-43 lead. The topic of discussion was attacking the Warriors' zone look on defense.
"It happens all the time when they change the defense and we have to call a timeout in order for us to reflect on where we are and to get back to what we gotta get done," he said.
The score was tied at 12 late in the first quarter, but Loa got a couple of putbacks on the offensive glass — including one that she converted for a three-point play — to spur a 7-0 Buffanblu run.
Punahou led at halftime, 26-18.
Kamehameha was 10-of-11 shooting on free throws.
The Warriors will visit Damien (0-1) Wednesday, then host No. 1 Iolani (1-0) Friday.
The Buffanblu remain on the road with games at Maryknoll Wednesday and Damien Saturday.
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