Wednesday, December 19, 2001
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Bulls dominate Punahou did all it could to grab Northwestern (Fla.) by the tail last night, but the Buffanblu couldn't keep their grip, as the Bulls ran away with a 52-40 win in the opening round of the Iolani Prep Classic high school basketball tournament.
boards, Buffanblu
Raiders win easily against visitors
from Pennsylvania in their Iolani
Prep Classic basketball tourneyBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comNorthwestern, the tournament's defending champion, moves on to the winners bracket and tomorrow will face the winner of today's game between Farrington and Clovis West (Calif.). Punahou falls to the losers bracket and will next play Cathedral Prep (Pa.)
Punahou kept it close against the bigger Bulls, tying the game at 25 with 5:42 left in the third quarter. But Northwestern went on a 14-1 run and kept the Buffanblu at arm's length the rest of the way.
"Defensively, if we do things correctly, we can slow things down a little bit and we did that," Punahou coach Greg Tacon said. "Their athleticism took over, they got some easy looks and we just could not do anything to keep them off the boards. But our effort was great today, I loved our effort."
Cedrick McGowan led Northwestern with 14 points, while Devon Pearson added 12 and Randolph Alvin had 11. The trio combined to make 15 of their 22 shot attempts in an often ragged performance from the Bulls, who lost 13 players from last year's 25-7 team.
"As long as we get the win, that's all that matters to me," Northwestern coach Baronton Terry said. "We always play like that, we played that way last year. It just gets better as we go."
Punahou was led by Alex Fergus' 14 points. Jason Ching added six for the Buffanblu.
Punahou hung close with Northwestern in the first half, never letting the Bulls get ahead by more than seven points, and went into halftime trailing 22-19.
The Buffanblu tied the game at 25 on a jumper by Dane Uperesa, but Northwestern pulled away on putbacks and breakaway layups and led 39-28 entering the fourth quarter. Punahou would get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Iolani 65, Cathedral Prep (Pa.) 36: Bobby Nash scored 20 points and Derrick Low added 12 as the Raiders advanced to the winner's bracket of their tournament.
"I told the kids it would really screw me up if we had to play in the morning, because I have to work," Iolani coach Dr. Mark Mugiishi said.
Tomorrow, Iolani will take on the winner of today's game between Roosevelt and Fairfax (Calif.).
The Raiders led Cathedral 25-14 at halftime and opened the third quarter with a 20-8 run to take control of the game. Bobby Webster scored eight of his 10 points during the quarter.
Tyler McCready added 12 points in the post for Iolani, which shot 26 for 45 from the field.
"We have so many weapons on our team; people can't expend a lot of energy trying to stop (Nash) or Derrick or one particular player," Mugiishi said. "Everyone's going to contribute."
Mark Chase led Cathedral with 12 points, while Andy Kubinski added 11.
Wilson (S.C.) 86, Damien 31: Wilson, the top-ranked team in South Carolina last season, built a 49-11 halftime lead and cruised to a win over the Monarchs.
Raymond Dorsey led the Tigers with 19 points, while Major Wingate and Ryan Mack added 17 each.
Ranson DeCosta led Damien with 11 points.
Montrose Christian (Md.) 71, Mililani 54: The Mustangs, ranked 14th in the nation by USA Today, bolted to a 21-2 first-quarter lead and held off the Trojans to advance to the winners bracket.
Linas Kleiza, a 6-foot-8 junior forward from Lithuania, scored 30 points for Montrose Christian, last year's tournament runner-up. Nick George added 17 for the Mustangs.
Mililani guard Rashaun Broadus hit three 3-pointers and finished with 19 points to lead the Trojans. Trey Brown added 13 for Mililani.
Note: Basketball fans can follow the tournament action at www.iolaniclassic.com. The site features live box scores and play-by-play.
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