[ HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS ]

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM The Kamehameha girls basketball team celebrated after beating Punahou to win the state title last night.

Kamehameha fights
off Punahou

A late flurry of 3-pointers by the
Buffanblu is not enough as the
Warriors hold on to win the title

---

By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com

They came in as underdogs in their minds, but the Kamehameha girls basketball team finished as champions.

In a battle to the end, Kamehameha clinched its eighth state title with a hard-fought 45-42 win over Punahou at the Stan Sheriff Center last night. Though the two teams have combined for 20 of 26 state final appearances, including 14 of the last 15, it was just the second time the Warriors and the Buffanblu were both in the championship game.

It was the sixth meeting between Kamehameha and Punahou this season. Kamehameha evened the season series 3-3 with the win.

"We didn't change anything from the last two times we played Punahou," Kamehameha coach Clay Cockett said. "Our focus was on Becky (Hogue) and Rachel (Kane)."

Hogue led Punahou with 15 points, but had only three after the half. Freshman Shanna-Lei Dacany scored 12, including two 3-pointers late in the game.

The Warriors were more balanced, with three players scoring in double digits.

Tournament MVP Ashley Ruff had 16 points and seven rebounds. Mounia Nihipali had 13 points before fouling out and Megan Ching added 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Ruff iced the game from the free-throw line with 10 seconds left. The senior claimed her second state title after winning a softball championship in February.

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Kamehameha's Megan Ching crashed through Punahou players on the way to the hoop last night.

Both teams were familiar with each other's strengths and weaknesses. The Warriors were aggressive on the boards and smothered the Buffanblu on defense. Kamehameha didn't allow many looks at the basket and forced Punahou to go inside.

A dislocated right shoulder and a sprained right pinkie didn't stop Kamehameha's Lehua Wood from turning in her usual defensive performance. Wood didn't score but more importantly she held Kane to just one point the entire game.

"Lehua is all over all the time," Ruff said. "Being the underdogs in the tournament worked for us. They came out with a full-court press and we still played our best."

Wood glued herself to Kane, but the Punahou junior still found other ways to help her team. Kane led the team with 10 rebounds and six steals. Kane caused several Kamehameha turnovers with her defense.

"The kids knew the tendencies of Kamehameha," Punahou coach Mike Taylor said. "We knew it was going to be a dogfight. We knew each possession counted. In the second half, we were taking what the defense gave us and working on our mismatches."

After trailing 24-15 at the half, Punahou trimmed Kamehameha's lead to three after a putback by Christine Takara. The Buffanblu were within three again after Kane poked a ball loose and Elyse Umeda scored on a layup to bring the score to 36-33. But each time the Buffanblu got close, the Warriors would respond. Ruff banked in a jumper and Nihipali converted a free throw for a 39-34 lead.

But the Buffanblu never quit. Dacany bombed a trey to even the score at 39 with 48 seconds left in the game. Dacany got Punahou within one at 43-42 with another 3-pointer, but Ruff made both free throws to seal the game for the Warriors.

Third place

Iolani 67, Kahuku 45

Fabriann Gin turned in a performance befitting her final high school game. Gin had 20 points, five assists and six rebounds to lead the Raiders past the Red Raiders.

Ginger Gravelle poured in 20 points and Lana Young added 16 as Iolani used a 26-point fourth quarter to clinch third place.

Michelle Peters scored 14 for Kahuku.

Iolani	15	17	9	26	--	67
Kahuku	16	9	9	11	--	45

Iolani (12-8): Ginger Gravelle8-15 3-3 20; Fabriann Gin 8-13 4-5 20; Lana Young 3-6 10-11 16; Jennifer Nagamine 1-4 2-2 4; Kiani Wong 1-1 0-1 2; Jayci Tashiro 1-2 0-0 2; Jackie-Lynn Sasaki 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 22-42 22-27 67.

Kahuku (12-6): Michelle Peters 7-10 0-0 14; Karla Tailele 3-8 1-2 8; Kelci Naihe 2-13 2-2 7; Charlotte Leitupo 2-6 0-0 4; Annie Soliai 2-2 0-0 4; Lesina Funaki 2-3 0-1 4; Krisha Kai 1-1 0-0 2; Mereani Lewenilovo 0-3 2-2 2; Nicole Pouha 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-47 5-7 45.

3-point goals--Iolani 1-6 (Gravelle 1-4; Gin 0-1; Nagamine 0-1), Kahuku 2-12 (Tailele 1-3; Naihe 1-7; Funaki 0-1; Pouha 0-1). Fouled out-Kai. Rebounds--Iolani 31 (Young 7; McClain 7), Kahuku 19 (Peters 6). Assists--Iolani 12 (Gin 5), Kahuku 9 (Naihe 3). Total fouls--Iolani 8, Kahuku 19.

Fifth place

Konawaena 49, Baldwin 37

The Wildcats tightened up their defense and went on a scoring tear in the second half to beat the Bears.

Nancy Hoist shot 9-for-11 from the field and finished with 19 points. Kara Taniyama tossed in 15 points and was 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.

Kami Kapaku was Baldwin's leading scorer again with 16 points.

Konawaena	15	7	15	12	--	49
Baldwin	15	8	6	8	--	37

Konawaena (15-1): Nancy Hoist 9-11 1-3 19; Kara Taniyama 6-7 1-2 15; E. Chung-Hoon Palau 1-3 4-4 6; Kristin Kitaoka 1-2 1-2 4; Jessica Hanato 1-4 0-0 2; Shawna-Marie Gomes 1-2 0-0 2; Jennifer Tayamen 0-2 1-2 1; Tiare DeAguiar 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-32 8-13 49.

Baldwin (14-3): Kami Kapaku 5-12 5-5 16; Isabeau Waiau 2-3 3-4 7; Mahie Atay 2-5 1-3 5; Kapua Atay 2-4 0-0 4; Jenna Mailou 1-3 1-1 3; Crystal Manuel 0-5 1-2 1. Totals 12-32 12-17 37.

3-point goals -- Konawaena 3-3 (Taniyama 2-2; Kitaoka 1-1), . Baldwin 1-7 (Kapaku 1-3; Atay 0-1; Manuel 0-3). Rebounds--Konawaena 19 (Hanato 6), Baldwin 18 (Mailou 5). Assists--Konawaena 12 (Hanato 4), Baldwin 6 (Atay 3). Total fouls--Konawaena 18, Baldwin 14. Fouled out--Hanato.

Consolation championship

Waiakea 48, Lahainaluna 43

The Lunas bounced back from a tough first quarter and controlled the game through the middle stretch. Lahainaluna led 34-31 at the end of the third period, but Waiakea evened the score at the end of regulation to force overtime. The Warriors held on in the extra period to finish seventh in the tournament.

Amy Kaaiakamanu scored 15 points and snagged six rebounds for the Warriors. Fatai Halaapiapi led the Lunas in defense and offense with 15 rebounds and 15 points.

Lahainalunas	4	14	16	7	2	--	43
Waiakea	13	9	9	10	7	--	48

Lahainaluna (12-5): Fatai Halaapiapi 5-17 5-11 15; Monika Vehikite 6-12 0-2 12; Missy Kaina 3-13 1-1 7; Hannalore Cabrera 1-6 2-2 4; Sherlyn Yadao 1-10 0-0 3; Jessica Maielua 1-1 0-0 2; Kele Fushikoshi 0-1 0-0 0; Krystle Omlan 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-62 8-16 43.

Waiakea (12-5): Amy Kaaiakamanu 5-11 4-6 15; Stacey Yanagihara 4-9 0-1 11; Jobette Nabarro 3-12 2-4 8; Genevieve Girdner 1-6 3-4 5; Kristine Irvine 2-7 0-0 4; Ashley Kualii 0-2 2-2 2; Katie Morigaki 1-3 0-0 2; Jessica Yeh 0-1 1-1; Lena Hamakawa 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-52 12-19 48.

3-point goals -- Lahainaluna 1-7 (Yadao 1-5, Omlan 0-2). Waiakea 4-12 (Yanagihara 3-8, Kaaiakamanu 1-3, Hamakawa 0-1). Rebounds--Lahainaluna 44 (Halaapiapi 15), Waiakea 42 (Kualii 10; Nabarro 10). Assists--Lahainaluna 7 (Yadao 3), Waiakea 11 (Kualii 4). Total fouls--Lahainaluna 18, Waiakea 12. Fouled out---Vehikite.

---

Kamehameha 45, Punahou 42

BUFFANBLU (16-3)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Kane	0	6	1	3	32	10	5	1
Umeda	3	7	1	4	27	3	2	7
Dacanay	5	11	0	1	20	0	0	12
Karns	0	0	0	0	8	1	1	0
Hogue	6	12	3	6	31	4	0	15
Chun	0	1	0	2	12	1	0	0
Abbot	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Shin	0	3	0	0	7	2	0	0
Anderson	0	1	0	0	4	1	0	0
Takara	0	1	1	5	15	5	0	7
Team	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Totals	17	49	6	21	160	29	8	42

WARRIORS (17-1)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Ruff	7	16	2	2	32	7	1	16
Carter	3	4	0	1	19	3	0	6
Wood	0	6	0	0	28	5	5	0
Nihipali	5	5	3	5	24	8	0	13
Ching	4	6	2	4	32	10	2	10
Taeoalii	0	1	0	0	6	2	0	0
Shim	0	1	0	3	7	1	0	0
Soo	0	4	0	0	12	2	2	0
Team	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
Totals	19	43	7	15	160	42	10	45

Key--fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.

Punahou	9	6	14	13	--	42
Kamehameha	14	10	10	11	--	45

3-point goals--Punahou 2-7 (Dacanay 2-4, Shin 0-2, Hogue 0-1), Kamehameha 0-3 (Wood 0-2, Carter 0-1). Personal fouls--Punahou 14, Kamehameha 18. Fouled out--Nihipali. Steals--Punahou 13 (Kane 6, Umeda 3, Dacanay 2, Karns, Chun), Kamehameha 4 (Ruff, Nihipali, Ching, Shim). Blocked shots--Punahou 0, Kamehameha 1 (Ching). Turnovers--Punahou 11, Kamehameha 20.

Officials--Wells, Fuentes, Yamasaki.

All-tournament team MVP: Ashley Ruff, Kamehameha Megan Ching, Kamehameha Nancy Hoist, Konawaena Ginger Gravelle, Iolani Shanna-Lei Dacany, Punahou Rachel Kane, Punahou

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