Saturday, May 15, 1999
Punahou going to
By Jerry Campany
state tourney
Special to the Star-BulletinPunahou was in no hurry to win this tournament.
The Buffanblu used a patient offense and a pressure defense to hold off Maryknoll, 38-28, to win the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's second berth in the girls' state tournament.
The defending state champs methodically ran their offense last night at McCabe Gym, often passing the ball around for over a minute before shooting. With patient precision, the Buffanblu tested the defensive presence of Spartan center Nabossa Basse but never challenging her.
Punahou was content to wait for its opportunities, and didn't force up a shot unless it was a sure thing. More importantly, when they got the open shots, they were able to take advantage of them.
"They are a good team and were more patient," Maryknoll head coach Mike Taylor said. "Both teams got the shots, unfortunately only one of them hit the shots."
After a close first quarter, Malia Durand sparked a 9-2 run over three minutes as Punahou went up, 14-7. Durand scored four of the points on a nifty turnaround jumper and a lay-up in front of Basse.
Maryknoll came out of halftime intent on getting the ball in the post to Basse, and she quickly cut the lead to four before Punahou's rotating defenders put the clamps on her and made her earn her points from the line. Basse hit four of her six free shots the rest of the way, but it wasn't enough.
"We knew she could score, but we also knew that we could play good individual defense on her," Durand said. "Every time she got the ball against me, my teammates collapsed and clogged the post to help me."
Durand, along with Lauren Yamada and Mia Moe, held Basse to eight points on 1-for-6 shooting from the field and denied her the ball until 2:26 was left in the first half. Basse was effective on the boards, collecting 10 rebounds. But the Buffanblu outrebounded the bigger Spartans, 28-22, on the strength of Milia Macfarlane's eight and five each from Durand and Caroline Ane.
Punahou's lead grew to 14 with six minutes left in the game, when they tried to slow the pace even more, and it almost backfired. Maryknoll played Punahou's waiting game, but this time was able to force turnovers and convert them into points. The Spartans cut the deficit to eight with two minutes left when they were forced to start fouling. The strategy worked initially-Michelle Gabriel cut the lead to six on a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left-but 4-of-6 shooting from the line by three players iced the game for the Buffanblu.
Punahou was able to take the game by using a game-long full court press to shut off the inside-outside combination of Basse and Gabriel. The Punahou pressure held the two scoreless from the field in the first half, and Gabriel didn't score until she exploded for eight in the final quarter.
"We took a risk playing a full court man-to-man against Gabriel because she is a terrific guard," Punahou head coach Shelly Fey said. "Estee (Okumura) did a great job on her."
With the win, Punahou joins regular season champion Kamehameha in next week's state tournament at Stan Sheriff Center, and after a mild celebration on the court after the game, they set their sights higher.
"Now we go back to work," Durand said.
And Maryknoll goes home, but not without learning something about themselves.
"Unfortunately basketball seasons are measured in wins and losses," Taylor said about his girls. "We have grown and improved so much over the course of this season, if we judge the season on heart and character, I'll call it a win. I am proud of these girls."
Maryknoll 3 5 5 15-28 Punahou 5 9 13 11-38Maryknoll: Elizabeth Kam 0, Shayne Enright 1, Kanani Medeiros 0, Shannon Riley 5, Michelle Gabriel 7, Denby Fukuda 7, Kainoa Fialkowski 0, Nabossa Basse 8.Punahou: Christen Zaccolante 0, Wendy Takeguchi 2, Chanel Kealoha 0, Malia Durand 13, Melia Macfarlane 13, Caroline Ane 3, Mia Moe 2, Estee Okumura 5, Lauren Yamada 0.
3-pointers-Mary: Gabriel. Pun: Macfarlane, Okumura.
