TThe ILH Division I girls basketball season started in earnest on Saturday night.
Punahou started the night with a balanced attack to win its ILH opener over rival Kamehameha 56-45.
Kamaile Kandiah and Tanisha Elbourne each scored 13 points for Punahou with Abigail Aplaca and Elle Uyeda each chipping in 11.
The Buffanblu only had four players score, but each of them hit at least one shot from long range.
Mikiala Maio paced the Warriors with 19 points and Kiana Vierra hit two from long range on her way to 14 points.
BOX COURTESY ILH
At Punahou
Kamehameha 15 6 12 12 — 45
Punahou 13 18 11 14 — 56
KAMEHAMEHA—Mikiala Maio 19, Kiana Vierra 14, Kaina Obrey 8, Noelle Sua-Godinet 2, Jewel Paaluhi-Caulk 2, Lauren Lau 0, Tatum Samson 0, Maile Marfil 0, Keanna Andres 0.
PUNAHOU—Kamaile Kandiah 13, Tanisha Elbourne 13, Abigail Aplaca 11, Elle Uyeda 11, Mahina Pua’a 8, Kiarra Young 0, Lexie Taylor 0, Kamakani DeBlake 0, Kristen Tamagawa 0, Jenna Reformina 0, Kylie Yamauchi 0.
3-pointers, KSK: Vierra 2. Pun: Uyeda 2, Aplaca, Elbourne, Kandiah.
Maryknoll 60, Iolani 52
Across the street, Rhianne Omori scored 13 points but struggled from the free-throw line until crunch time and the Spartans beat the Raiders.
Omori hit only five of her 10 free throws but Chayse Milne and Moe Notoa each scored 10 points to pick her up.
Maryknoll went 15-for-30 from the line while Iolani went 15-for-20.
Camy Aguinaldo scored 16 points for Iolani, hitting eight of nine from the stripe and draining two 3-pointers.
At Maryknoll
‘Iolani (0-1) 8 15 12 17 — 52
Maryknoll (1-0) 11 21 12 16 — 60
‘Iolani: Tori Lynn Maeda 4, Kellie Okamura 5, Emily Nomura 4, Kelsi Ikeda 0, Taylor Wu 8, Camy Aguinaldo 16, Kawai Kahalehoe 9, Skylar Nakata 6.
Maryknoll: Kamalu Kamakawiwo‘ole 7, Rhianne Omori 13, Georjette Stietzel 5, Kodee Viena 2, Isabella Cravens 7, Chayse Milne 10, Moe Notoa 10, Kehau Gilliland 2, Ysabelle Halemano 4.
3-point goals—‘Iolani 5 (Wu 2, Aguinaldo 2, Kahalehoe), Maryknoll 1 (Stietzel).
Over in Kalaheo, the Mustangs won the Lee Cashman tournament over Castle.
Saturday scores
Damien 63, Maryknoll II 21
Kamehameha II 36, Pearl City 31
Kapolei 41, Punahou II 26
Kalaheo 51, Castle 39
Friday scores
Pearl City 49, Maryknoll II 39
Kamehameha II 45, Damien 28
Castle 38, Punahou II 20
Kalaheo 64, Kapolei 49
The St. Francis Thanksgiving tournament also wrapped up on Saturday, with Hawaii Baptist beating Iolani I-AA 52-29 in the championship.
Saturday
Hawaii Baptist 52, Iolani 29 (Championship)
Kauai 51, Molokai 27
Kaiser 45, McKinley 28 (Consolation)
Saint Francis 47, Kaimuki 40 (third place)
Friday scores:
McKinley 57, Kauai 53
Kaiser 53, Molokai 31
Iolani I-AA 40, Saint Francis 35
Hawaii Baptist 39, Kaimuki 31
On the boys side, Maryknoll looks pretty stout at the Hawaii Self Storage McKinley Boys Basketball Classic, beating the hosts by 50. Scores:
Maryknoll 81, McKinley 31
Kapolei 47, Kalani 34
Kaimuki 56, Mililani 49
University 43, Campbell 40
I was able to watch both games. Wow, girls basketball has really come a long way. In the Punahou game, Kamehameha was up early by 7. Kamehameha had no matchup for Punahou’s PG Kandiah. She pushed the ball. They got into early offense. They broke Kamehameha’s press easily. Kamehameha didn’t have a player who could stay in front of her. She moved the ball everywhere she wanted to. Kamehameha didn’t know how to get their top 3 scorers the ball. Kamehameha had to run offense for 30 seconds per possession just to get a contested shot attempt. Kamehameha didn’t have guards to get the big girl the ball inside. And, the big girl on Kamehameha has to work too hard for position. She needs more instruction how to use her body to get position. It would be nice if Kamehameha set more screens for her. And when they do, it would be nice if their wings actually held the ball before the screen was set and she could make a move to post up. Often, the wings would rotate the ball before she came off the cross screen. If Punahou was coached better, the final margin of victory would be far more than 11. The game should not have been this close. Too many times the ball stood still. Poor ball movement. Punahou’s PG never touched the ball on 5 straight possession near the end of the game. And the girls on Punahou who didn’t pass the PG the ball, missed free throws when Kamehameha fouled them to stop the clock.