PUNAHOU HOLIDAY CLASSIC
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Radford's Michael Sooto drove against Mercer Island's Carter Newhof in the first half last night at Punahou.
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Mercer rules the island
By Venus Lee
Special to the Star-Bulletin
The last time Mercer Island (Wash.) came to Hawaii in 1996, the Islanders won the Walter Wong Classic at McCabe Gym.
And they are on pace to win another tournament title in the island chain.
Mercer Island's 6-foot-3 Kael Kristof led all scorers with 13 points as his team defeated Radford 44-28 on the second day of the Punahou Holiday Classic.
Although the Rams trailed throughout the game, they were able to keep the score close and were down by only four at halftime. It was not until the second half that the Islanders were able to steadily pull away.
"They gambled and we took advantage of it," Mercer Island's head coach Ed Pepple said. "We exploited the fullcourt press' weaknesses and got a lot of easy layups."
Radford's head coach Kai Enos believed not being able to get back on defense was the key.
"Our transition defense was terrible ... We gotta try to work on more stuff and hopefully create some offense," Enos said.
The Islanders' defense stymied the Rams, holding them to only three points (a trey by John Watson) in the third quarter, and a total of 11 points in the second half.
The Washington team threw at least three different defensive sets at the Rams, but the Rams mostly faced either a 1-3-1 or a 2-3 zone.
"We knew they had good athletes so we wanted to keep them from penetrating and contain their big guy (Michael Goodman, who finished with four points)," Pepple said.
Contributing to their offensive struggles, Radford shot less than 50 percent (5-for-12) from the free-throw line. However, the Rams' shooting percentage was an improvement from their performance three weeks ago against Moanalua, when they shot a frustrating 33 percent from the charity stripe.
Radford's 6-2 junior Gary Satterwhite led his team with five points.
Mercer Island advances to the semifinals to play Punahou today at 8 p.m.
QUARTERFINALS
Punahou 58, Kalaheo 42
Miah Ostrowski scored 12 points, including 7-for-7 accuracy from the foul line, and had seven assists as the Buffanblu broke open a close game in the fourth quarter. Spencer McLachlin added nine points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, and Brandon Kapana tallied 10 points for the Buffanblu.
Clifton Pires paced Kalaheo with 13 points. Kahua Hollinger added nine for the Mustangs, who made just six of 15 tries from the line.
Punahou was 20 of 23 from the stripe (87 percent).
Kalaheo persevered against Punahou's mix of man and 1-3-1 zone defenses, an occasional fullcourt press, as well as a constant platoon. Pires scored six points in the third quarter to bring the Mustangs within 36-33.
McLachlin's 3-pointer from the top of the key sparked a 15-5 fourth-quarter run by the home team. Kimo Makaula provided scoring punch off the bench with all nine of his points in the second half.
Kamehameha 51, Baldwin 44
Andrew Godinet scored 12 points as the Warriors stifled the defending Maui Interscholastic League champions. Jacob Ho and Kanoa Mokiao chipped in with eight points each for Kamehameha.
The Warriors shot 17 foul shots, making 15 (88 percent).
Matt Heyd, a 6-foot senior, pumped in 18 points for Baldwin before reinjuring an ankle in the fourth quarter. John Salmo added 10 points. Baldwin attempted only 15 free throws and made nine (60 percent).
Salesian (Calif.) 77, Mililani 56
Kendall McCree continued his scoring onslaught and the Salesian Chiefs advanced to the semifinals with a solid win. McCree, a 6-4 senior, scored 22 points to lead the squad from Richmond, Calif.
Point guard Justin Brown and Kevin Piva added 10 points each for the Chiefs, who led 22-9 after one quarter and were never seriously threatened.
A.J. Clark, Ken Moses and Brian Prentice paced Mililani with 10 points apiece. Kristian Guillen added nine points.
CONSOLATION
Moanalua 51, Maryknoll 49
Wayne West scored 16 points and Stevie Austin tallied 14 as the Menehunes rallied past the Spartans. West, a 6-2 senior, drained four 3-pointers and Austin, a 5-9 sophomore, sank two for Moanalua.
Jordan Napoleon, a 6-3 sophomore, scored 10 to pace Maryknoll. Travis Liu and Zachary Misajon added nine each. The Spartans played without leading scorer Tyler Tsukazaki.
Kamehameha-Hawaii 59, Damien 48
Kealoha Kramer, a 6-foot sophomore, pumped in 14 points to lead the Big Island Warriors over the Monarchs. Chris Aiwohi-Kegler and Jacob Naki tallied 11 points apiece for KS-Hawaii.
The Warriors went on a 17-8 run to start the second half to open a 10-point lead. They made 16 of 22 attempts from the foul line.
Haku Correa, a 6-1 sophomore, and Matt Gochenouer scored 10 points each for Damien. The Monarchs shot just 28 percent from the free-throw line (five of 18).
Campbell 65, Punahou II 52
Tristan Sealy poured in 23 points to lead the Sabers to a win.
Sealy had two treys and shot nine of 10 from the charity stripe. His teammates Ryan Hayes and Michael McDonald added 12 points apiece.
Junior forward Kainoa Carlson led the Buffanblu with 16 points.
Kahuku 48, Farrington 34
Senior Okesene Ale Jr. tallied 23 points, which included three treys, as his Red Raiders overpowered the Governors. Teammate Devin Unga added 10 points.
Kahuku attempted 16 more free throws than its opponent, but only shot 50 percent from the line. Senior forward Kevin Unga has not played in the tournament due to a knee injury sustained during the football season.
Farrington's Glenn Ernst led his team with eight points.
The Star-Bulletin's Paul Honda contributed to this report