Punahou relied on defense to protect its home court on senior night and defend its league title.

The third-ranked Buffanblu stymied 'Iolani in a key second-half stretch and clinched the Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls basketball crown with a 47-36 win over the sixth-ranked Raiders last night at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

Slow starts put 'Iolani in a hole in the first two meetings between the teams in the ILH season. This time, 'Iolani started strong but couldn't overcome a dry spell as Punahou's pressure ignited a decisive 14-2 run to send the Buffanblu (10-1) to their third victory over 'Iolani (5-3).

“;Not only this year but every year we pride ourselves on the defensive end,”; Punahou coach Mike Taylor said, “;because that's something we can control as far as positioning, hustle, effort and communication. That's our staple.”;

'Iolani's total was actually the second-highest given up by Punahou in the regular season. But the Buffanblu—who entered the game giving up 27.4 points per game—pulled away during the pivotal run bridging the third and fourth quarters.

'Iolani scored the first four points of the second half to close to 20-19, but got just one shot to drop over the next 7 1/2 minutes.

“;That killed us,”; 'Iolani coach Eddie Maruyama said.

“;They just make you work to earn every point that you get against their defense. They do a good job of not allowing second shots. You have to be able to take care of the basketball, execute your offense and make some shots. And against Punahou you have to make sure you get a good shot because they do a great job.”;

In its first two losses to Punahou, 'Iolani was held to single-digit scoring in both first halves. Last night, the Raiders took an 11-9 lead after one quarter and led 15-14 on Lori Yamashita's jumper with 3:34 left in the second. But Hailey-Ann Maeda answered with a putback less than a minute later and the Buffanblu never trailed again.

“;'Iolani came out pretty strong the second game and even stronger this game, so we really had to buckle down on defense especially,”; said Punahou guard Jennifer Ching, who finished with a game-high 13 points.

Two Punahou underclassmen started the run that put the game out of reach. After freshman forward Alex Masaquel's steal and layup brought the Raiders to within a point, Punahou sophomore Kaylin Okuma banked in a jumper off a feed from freshman Khaliyah Thompson, who then converted an 'Iolani turnover into a layup to stretch the Buffanblu lead to 24-19.

“;I think we started getting our offense going (in the third quarter), and finally started moving the basketball faster,”; Taylor said. “;In the first half we weren't giving the ball up fast enough and when we do give it up we give ourselves opportunities to score.”;

The Raiders got to within seven on two occasions in the fourth quarter, but Punahou was able to put the game away from the free-throw line to set up a senior night celebration with a game at Kamehameha on Thursday remaining on the regular-season schedule.

“;We take a lot of pride and work hard on defense and try to communicate,”; Ching said. “;So we tried to play together and play for our seniors.”;