Saturday, December 19, 1998
Brooks hits 28 as Buffs
By Pat Bigold
give No. 14 Rice a scare
Star-BulletinWhen Rice High School's nationally ranked Raiders flew onto the floor of Iolani School's packed gym and started slam dunking everything in sight during warmups, they had everyone's attention.
Without a doubt, these confident young men from Manhattan were USA Today's No. 14 team.
No one seemed to be watching the nondescript Buffanblu of Punahou go through their warmup routine at the other end.
But it was the disciplined offense and dogged defense of Punahou that rocked Rice's world for much of last night's 61-57 Raiders' victory on the second night of the Nike-Iolani Prep Basketball Classic.
Only when Andre Sweet swiped a Punahou pass near midcourt with three seconds left was Rice assured of its victory.
Kyle Cuffe, a 6-foot-8 junior, scored 16 points to lead the Raiders, while Andre Barrett added 12 and Sweet put in 10.
Brandon Brooks, an all-state senior forward, scored 28 points in leading the Buffs as Punahou nearly upset its second nationally ranked team in three seasons. Brooks was a force under the glass at both ends and Rice couldn't handle him for most of the game.
"That No. 50 just made some spectacular shots throughout the game that held off the run," Rice coach Maurice Hicks said of Brooks.
Punahou led until the 40-second mark of the third quarter. The Raiders outscored the Buffs 20-10 in the period and led, 47-46, heading into the final eight minutes.
Brooks gave Punahou leads of 50-59 and 53-51 and then tied the game at 66 with 3:55 to play. Rice ran off four straight points, but Brooks' backdoor bucket brought Punahou to within 59-57 with slightly more than a minute remaining.
Sweet's steal and his subsequent free throws sealed it for the Raiders.
It was a tough loss for Punahou, which outplayed Rice in the first half.
The Buffanblu went into the locker room with a 36-27 lead that conjured memories of Punahou's 1996 Iolani Classic upset of then-No. 22 St. Joseph's of Alameda, Calif.
The Buffs outhustled the Raiders to most of the loose balls and looked as though they were primed for prime time.
But Rice's full-court press began to take its toll in the third quarter.
"Our goal was to keep the ball out of No. 21's (Steve Gilliam's) hands and make the other guards deal with the ball," Hicks said.
A pair of 6-0 runs propelled the Raiders to their one-point lead at the end of the period.
"We got a little bit tired and I think we have to work on our conditioning," Punahou head coach Alan Lum said. "At halftime, I told our boys that we had to have a strong third quarter. But we missed some easy ones and got caught up in transition and they capitalized on our errors."
Rice was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, hitting 13 of 14. Punahou made 10 of 17.
"Punahou is a very good team," Hicks said. "They're big, they come after you, they were up for the game. We lacked intensity and dug a hole for ourselves."
Hicks said he was particularly impressed with Punahou's patience on offense.
"They made us work defensively," he said. "They made at least six or seven passes and they were able to score and get some good looks."
Rice faces defending Hawaii state champion Iolani at 8 tonight.
In other games USA Today's No. 7 team, Lower Richland (S.C.), clobbered Kaimuki, 88-45, as highly touted prospect Edward Scott scored 22 points to lead four players in double figures.
Thunderbird High (Ariz.) beat St. Louis, 54-46, as Jeff Kirkeby scored 20.
Timpview (Utah) defeated the classic's first European entry, Scavolini, 63-53, as Marc Roberts led all scorers with 19 points.
