It’s an interesting night of prep hoops. Over at Kalaheo, Farrington brings a depleted team. Starters Jacob McEnroe and Mason Semisi, their two best rebounders and interior scorers, are gone to the continent for a Poly All-American exhibition football game. That’s good news for Kalaheo, a smart, young team that doesn’t have a lot of brawn.
Here at Maryknoll, the parking lot has been busy and the gym is filled to the gills. Maryknoll’s girls just beat Sacred Hearts 49-21. First time I got to see former Lancer Brittney Aiwohi on the sideline as head coach. She has a gritty team that was simply overmatched by the highly-ranked Lady Spartans. What Sacred Hearts could really use to compete at the D-I level is… three or four high-school aged Brittney Aiwohis. She was an incredible scorer back in the not–so-long-ago past.
Saw her score 25 points in a row during a game against then-No. 1 Punahou. Eventually, someone else started shooting (and missing), Punahou rallied and won the game 55-45 (or something close to that).
The Buffanblu walked across the street to get here and the big news for Punahou is that 6-foot-7 Daniel Andrews is in uniform and warming up. He hurt his knee during warmups a couple of nights ago against ‘Iolani and sat the game. Punahou lost 46-34. But Andrews is back for this big showdown.
I’d love to see a 91-90 game — there’s enough scoring skills to go around for both teams — but the ILH being what it is, it’ll probably be a slow grind most of the night. More later.
Punahou 18, Maryknoll 10, end Q1
J.B. Kam playing his game again. Seven points in the first quarter: an NBA trey followed by two drives off pump fakes. Andrews looks pretty normal.
Punahou 33, Maryknoll 30, halftime
Fast-paced second quarter was entertaining. Spartans were in the bonus, then double bonus early. Kaleb Gilmore hit five of his six free throws, but the rest of the Spartans were just 1-for-5 at the line in the second. Still a good comeback after trailing by nine midway through the first quarter.
Andrews has nine points and four boards so far, a big factor for the Buffanblu. Is there any better way to measure his value than by recognizing that they were not the same team without him in the flat, 12-point loss to ‘Iolani just a few days ago? Kam went a pretty good spell without scoring before hitting two foul shots late in the half. He also has nine points.
Gilmore has 13 points to lead all scorers. Josh Burnett is receiving the treatment from Punahou, blanketing him and bringing a lot of helpside defense when he tries to drive. He’s got six points and a couple of assists.
Punahou 44, Maryknoll 39, end Q4
Spartans staying close, but the easy backdoor layups by Punahou made the difference in the third. Burnett got whistled for his second offensive foul of the game, trying initiate contact and the refs aren’t having it.
Punahou 63, Maryknoll 52, final
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