[ HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS ]

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RONEN ZILBERMAN / RZILBERMAN@STARBULLETIN.COM Punahou's Kainoa Higgins (40) battled Word of Life Academy's Andrew Rutherford for a rebound last night.

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Punahou’s D-II team
caps perfect season

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By Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-Bulletin

In the showdown yesterday between teams with identical 11-0 records for the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II boys basketball title, host Punahou handily beat Word of Life 51-33 at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

The win capped yet another perfect season for the Buffanblu (12-0) and secured the team its second straight ILH D-II title.

Punahou has not lost the last two years en route to back-to-back championships.

"Perfection is about 15 guys having one heart and having a good time," Punahou head coach Gary Pacarro said. "I'm just proud of my seniors, proud of all my kids putting out the effort they did. It's been a great season."

Senior guard Michael China led the way for the Buffanblu, scoring a game-high 19 points and hitting four 3-point shots. Kainoa Higgins and Alexander Chock, also seniors, chipped in with eight and seven points, respectively.

Leading the way for Word of Life (11-1) with 10 points was junior Brashton Satele. Senior Koa Pickard added seven.

"We've just had great team chemistry the last two years, which really helped us go undefeated," China said. "We knew it was going to be a good game because they were undefeated (too), and we had to come out and defend our title."

After a tight first quarter that finished with Punahou leading 8-5, the Firebrands went on a 7-0 run early in the second to build a slim 12-11 lead with 5:07 left until halftime.

But the Buffanblu seized control of the game from that point, turning up their defensive intensity with a hard man-to-man press and responding with a 13-2 run of their own to close the first half with a 24-14 advantage.

Punahou continued to build its lead in the second half, as China was particularly hot in the third quarter, scoring nine points and hitting his fourth shot from beyond the arc at the 4:10 mark to make the score 35-19.

Two free throws by Chad Tamashiro at 6:01 of the fourth gave the Buffanblu their largest lead of the game at 44-24, and the Firebrands never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.

"They showed our weakness -- which is handling pressure," Word of Life head coach Jenic Tumaneng said.

Fortunately for the Firebrands, their season -- unlike Punahou's -- has not yet ended.

As the small-schools champion, Word of Life will play Maryknoll at Damien next Tuesday for a berth in the ILH's third-place D-I tournament. The winner of next week's tournament will become the third ILH team (in addition to league-champion Iolani and runner-up Punahou's D-I team) at this year's state tournament.

"Yes, the good news is that we get to play on," Tumaneng said. "But Punahou showed us that we need to learn how to handle pressure better in order to do well in the D-I tournament. We've grown a lot and done well to get to this point. And we'll be ready."

ILH Division II

Yesterday's results
Iolani 52, Lutheran 31
St. Louis 66, Redemption Academy 49
Assets 61, Christian Academy 56
Lanakila Baptist 54, Academy of the Pacfic 52
Hawaii Baptist 40, Kamehameha 34
Leading scorers--Iol: Alex Why 16, Cale Yamada 11. Asts: Joshua Dirnberger 20, James Higa 11. CA: Matt Takayesu 13, Nick Castello 12, Lucas Arnold 11. LB: Galen Kama 13, Charles Hazelwood 13. AOP: Kaimana Komine 19. Kam: Matthew Kam 11.

ILH Division I

Standings

Team	W	L
y-Iolani	14	0
x-Punahou	12	2
Kamehameha	8	6
Damien	7	7
Mid-Pacific	6	8
University	5	9
Saint Louis	3	11
Maryknoll	1	13

y-clinched division title

x-clinched state berth

yesterday's games
No. 1 Iolani 75, Maryknoll 42
The No. 1 Raiders capped a perfect 14-0 ILH season by hammering the Spartans.

Derrick Low led Iolani with 17 points, and connected on two of the team's eight 3-pointers. Every Raiders player made a field goal.

Jordan Durant led Maryknoll with 12 points, and Tyler Tsukazaki added 10.

At Iolani School Gym

Maryknoll (1-13)	5	10	13	14	--	42
Iolani (14-0)	25	21	15	14	--	75

IOLANI--Ryan Hirata 13, Vinny Nip 3, Todd Blankenship 3, Jon Yasuda 9, Derrick Low 17, Jon Takamura 3, Zach Tollefson 7, Kawika Shoji 4, Kyle Pape 3, Sean Carney 2, Wes Eberlin 6, James Street 5.
MARYKNOLL-- Jordan Durant 12, Edward Kawahara 2, Chris Lum 6, Riley Tang 6, Michael Toyama 2, Tyler Tsukazaki 10, Tommy Nguyen 2, Melcar Condes 0, Travis Yamane 2.
3-point goals -- Maryknoll 0, Iolani 8 (Hirata 2, Low 2, Nip, Takamura, Tollefson, Pape).

University 45, Mid-Pacific 40
Led by David Johnson's game-high 18 points, the Jr. 'Bows scored a mini-upset to end the ILH season as they defeated the Owls.

James Cabras nailed a pair of 3-pointers and added 10 points for University. Kellen Hastie led Mid-Pacific with 10 points.

At Mid-Pacific Institute gym

University (5-9)	6	12	12	15	--	45
Mid-Pacific (6-8)	6	9	10	15	--	40

UNIVERSITY-- Scott Nishimoto 0, AJ Clark 2, Michael Tenorio 2, James Cabras 10, Albert Li 0, Lucion Holyfield 6, John Duro 7, David Johnson 18.
MID-PACIFIC-- Burton Woodhull 0, Josh Mitchell 4, Chris Perry 7, Ryan Chun 5, JD Lum 3, Kellen Hastie 10, Chris Freshour 7, Bryson Beirne 4.
3-point goals -- University 3 (Cabras 2, Johnson), Mid-Pacific 2 (Chun, Lum).

Kamehameha 54, St. Louis 42
The Warriors stretched a nine-point halftime lead to 16 points with a 17-10 third quarter to finish the ILH season in third place with an 8-6 record.

Gabriel and Waika Spencer paced the Warriors with 10 points apiece while B.J. Batts' 10 points led the Crusaders.

At Kekuhaupio Gym

Saint Louis (3-11)	11	4	10	17	--	42
Kamehameha (8-6)	15	9	17	13	--	54

SAINT LOUIS--B.J. Batts 10, Bo Ronduen 6, Keao Monteilh 0, Jason Allen 0, Ikaika Nakoa 8, Ryan Brilhante 8, Desmond Hanohano 0, Kerstan Ho 0, Kelii Zablan 2, Stephen Lei 2, Bronson Abrigo 6, Brandon Va'a 0.
KAMEHAMEHA--Ikaika Hardie 5, Keo Pacarro 5, Rykin Enos 4, Jacob Ho 6, Quincy Crowell 0, Mike Nii 1, Jacob Bode 2, Waika Spencer 10, Kapono Kuikahi 2, Ikaika Shelton 6, Gabriel Spencer 10, Kawika Hepa 3.
3-point goals -- Saint Louis 3 (Batts 2, Ronduen), Kamehameha 2 (Pacarro, Hepa).

No. 2 Punahou 54, Damien 36
Down one at halftime, the Buffanblu dominated the second half, outscoring Damien 35-16 to finish 12-2 in the ILH as they get ready for the upcoming state tournament.

Brenton Lee's 15 points led Punahou, who held Damien to just eight field goals the entire game.

Ranson DeCosta hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 14 points as he was the only Monarchs player in double figures.

At Hemmeter Fieldhouse

Damien (7-7)	8	12	5	11	--	36
Punahou (12-2)	7	12	18	17	--	54

DAMIEN-- Ferd Paredes 3, Antonio Cerezo 0, Micah Kikuta 7, Justin Casil 1, Kawika Lopez 2, Va'a Faualo 0, Ranson DeCosta 14, Fehi Sevelo 3, Soane Sevelo 0, Tevita Williams 4, Keoni Steinhoff 2, Sione Tau 0, Brandon Kahale 0.
PUNAHOU-- Miah Ostrowski 3, Storm Bridgewater 0, Daniel Cho 2, Reid Fowler 4, Scott Otake 9, Brenton Lee 15, Morgan Ellsworth 6, Spencer McLachlin 5, Kasey Ko 8, Robby Shklov 0, Kaohu Berg-Hee 0, TJ Zabriskie 2.
3-point goals -- Damien 2 (DeCosta 2), Punahou 3 (Otake, McLachlin, Fowler).