No. 1 Punahou blows past No. 2 Iolani

Punahou made sure this one didn't have to come down to a buzzer-beating layup.

In stark contrast to the first two meetings between the Buffanblu and Iolani, which came down to made baskets in the game's final possession, the state's top-ranked team hit another gear in systematically dismantling its rival 70-49 last night at packed Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

The Buffanblu (6-1) moved into sole possession of first place in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu in the teams' last regular-season meeting.

It started with Punahou's fullcourt press forcing eight turnovers in the first quarter and essentially ended in the third quarter with Trevor Crabb's thunderous baseline one-hand slam in traffic. Minutes after the posterizing dunk, the Punahou student section chanted, "Trevor! Trevor!" during a timeout.

"Oh, it was the best feeling of this season because I was waiting all season to get a dunk on someone," said Crabb, who had nine points. "Especially against Iolani, too. It couldn't have been better."

By that time, it was a 19-point game and whatever fire was left in the No. 2 Raiders (5-2) was extinguished. They trimmed the deficit to 16 at several points, but that's as close as they got.

A well-balanced and efficient (56 percent shooting) Buffanblu attack spelled bad news for Iolani. Punahou assisted on 13 of the team's 27 baskets.

Senior forward Kameron Steinhoff was his usual self with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Manti Te'o came off the bench to score 15 and grab nine rebounds.

Point guard Robert Toma had 11 points and four assists, and shooting guard Dalton Hilliard hit two 3-pointers, dished out five assists and nabbed four steals.

Hilliard, who had Punahou's winning layup against Iolani in the James Alegre Invitational, split the Raiders' zone defense and dished to the 6-foor-5 Crabb for the dagger dunk.

"It felt great because I had missed him the night before at Saint Louis. ... I had a charge called on me," Hilliard said. "So I told him, 'Tonight, I'll get you Trev, just get in your stance and get ready because I'm going to drive to the hole and dish it.' He took care of business when he did that, and you know what, that's one of the main points of tonight's game because that rose our intensity."

Iolani's Pablo Warner did his part by slashing his way to 27 points on a variety of smooth layups. Center Taylor Mounts, whose layup at the buzzer gave Iolani a 43-41 over Punahou on Jan. 4, added 11 points and four rebounds. But that was it -- no other Raiders player scored more than four.

"(Punahou) was awesome tonight," Iolani coach Mark Mugiishi said. "Their defensive pressure was great the whole game. They hit all their shots. They had weapons from all over, so they were tough. We couldn't run any of our stuff. We were totally out of sync."

At Hemmeter Fieldhouse

Iolani (5-2)	8	13	17	11	--	49
Punahou (6-1)	13	23	18	16	--	70

IOLANI -- Andrew Skalman 0, Berton Wong 2, Bricen McCartney 0, Pablo Warner 27, Taylor Mounts 11, Jarrett Arakawa 3, Nick Christman 0, Kela Marciel 0, Lionel Fujioka 2, Trevyn Tulonghari 4, Brandon Ball 0.

PUNAHOU -- Dalton Hilliard 6, Robert Toma 11, Henry Cassiday 7, Trevor Crabb 9, Kameron Steinhoff 14, Manti Te'o 15, Matt Feldman 0, Sean McFadden 2, Kimo Makaula 6, Shane Yoshiyama 0.

3-point goals -- Iolani 4 (Warner 2, Mounts, Arakawa). Punahou 5 (Hilliard 2, Toma 2, Crabb).

No. 4 Kamehameha 67, Damien 40

Pii Minns dropped in four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points as the Warriors dominated the Monarchs.

At Damien Memorial H.S. gym

Kamehameha (5-1)	20	16	11	20	--	67
Damien (0-7)	10	6	11	13	--	40 0

KAMEHAMEHA--Edmund Kamano 8, Jonathan Hew-Len 5, Kawika Lyons 8, Chaz Bajet 0, Brandon Dumlao 0, Dylan Miller 2, Auwae DeRego 8, Blake Viena 6, Pii Minns 19, Damien Termae-Kaehuaea 6, Shawn Bode 5, Kamakoa Downey-Jovanovich 0.

DAMIEN--Nikko Romuar 4, Drey Dutro-Solomua 12, Tim Smith 0, Anthony Tuitele 0, Kaiakoili Lima 10, Nick Cerny 0, Aminis Thompson 10, Austin Dawson 0, Michael Memea 4.

3-point goals--Kamehameha 7 (Minns 4, Lyons 2, Hew-Len, ), Damien 2 (Dutro-Solomua 2).

Junior varsity--Damien 68, University 64

No. 9 Maryknoll 43, Mid-Pacific 40, OT

The Spartans rallied in the second half behind Richard Herring's 16 points and outscored the Owls in OT.

At Mid-Pacific Institute gym

Maryknoll (4-3)	11	7	13	7	5	--	43
Mid-Pacific (0-5)	11	12	4	11	2	--	40

MARYKNOLL -- Brian Saxton 0, Tyler Terai 5, Scott Kamimura 2, Garrick Chock 2, Christian Bueno-Kanei 0, Javen Correia 2, Rian Huizingh 0, Micah Kalepa 0, Richard Herring 16, Jordan Napoleon 2, Ross Lum 14.

MID-PACIFIC -- Jonathan Taniguchi 0, Ryan Kurihara 8, Jaime Rivera 2, Marcus Holyfield 18, Dustyn Uchiyama 0, Kellar Ellsworth 8, Cameron Roberts 4.

3-point goals -- Maryknoll 3 (Herring 2, Terai), Mid-Pacific 3 (Kurihara 2, Ellsworth).

ILH Girls

No. 1 Iolani 53, Sacred Hearts 30

Jamie Smith scored 18 points and Chanel Hirata added 13 as the top-ranked Raiders rolled over the Lancers for the second straight night.

At Iolani gym

Sacred Hearts (0-9)	6	5	12	7	--	30
Iolani (8-1)	14	10	14	15	--	53

SACRED HEARTS--Rayna Munos 2, Ronalyn Timbreza 0, Kamri Lin 4, Morgan Donohue 0, Ashley Ordenstein 4, Maya Clark 6, Lindsey Bareng 0, Raecha-Ann Kauahikaua 9, Charnelle Pires 0, Laura Abellanida 2, Kuhina Luis 3, Naihe Paikai 0, Noel Soma 0.

IOLANI--Elysse Tom 0, Tami Konishi 5, Kylie Ahlo 4, Lahela Usui 0, Lori Yamashita 8, Chanel Hirata 13, Jamie Smith 18, Raechele Takara 0, Georgette Lopes-Liutolo 4, Shauni Watanabe 0, Hailey Maeda 1.

3-point goals--Sacred Hearts 3 (Clark 2, Kauahikaua), Iolani 5 (Hirata 3, Konishi, Smith).

No. 2 Punahou 41, Mid-Pacific 39, OT

Shaena-Lyn Kuehu put in 15 points to lead the Buffanblu past the Owls. For Mid-Pacific, Ashley Yamachika scored 11 points in the overtime loss.

At Mid-Pacific Institute gym

Punahou (9-1)	11	5	6	13	6	--	41
Mid-Pacific (2-7)	8	6	13	8	4	--	39

PUNAHOU--Shaena-Lyn Kuehu 15, Tressa Torres 4, Dara Tompkinson 8, Julianne Nomura 0, Rebecca Lau 7, Anna Merrifield 3, Ashley Satterwhite 2, Jennifer Ching 0, Kysa Ludviksen 0, Tiera Jenson 2.

MID-PACIFIC--Paige Young 2, Johnelle Kapua 7, Shanon Nishimura 3, Keaton McFadden 9, Jordan Kealoha 3, Jenna Savusa 4, Ashley Yamachika 11, Kristin Yama 0, Kelli Shibata 0, Alyssa Kau 0.

3-point goals-- Punahou 6 (Kuehu 3, Tompkinson 2, Lau), Mid-Pacific None.

Also

Junior varsity boys

Mid-Pacific 62, Saint Louis 56