Kamehameha rallies past Punahou to win ILH title

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Kamehameha celebrates its victory over Punahou after clinching the ILH girls basketball championship. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

The victory at Hawai'i Baptist Academy gym puts the Warriors (14-1) in good position to earn the No. 1 seed in the upcoming state tournament and guarantees them a first-round bye.

The Buffanblu (13-2) will be unseeded and now will need to win four straight games to capture the state title.

Except for the final 110 seconds last night, the situation could have been reversed.

Punahou took a 39-33 lead with 2:02 left on Janelle Shin's 15-foot jumper. But 12 seconds later, Kamehameha reserve guard Amber Carter swished a 3-point basket from the deep right corner to cut the lead in half.

"Carter is our best shooter," Warriors coach Clay Cockett said. "When we missed an open shot, I told her, 'That's why we need you in there. Are you ready?' That's when we put her in and she hit the shot."

Said Kamehameha center Mounia Nihipali: "After that 3-pointer, we came alive."

With 1:15 remaining, Ashley Ruff scored on a layup to pull the Warriors to within one, at 39-38. The Buffanblu missed an open shot on their next possession and Ruff scored on another layup to give Kamehameha a 40-39 lead with 35 seconds left.

Lehua Wood made a steal and was fouled with 27 seconds remaining, then sank both ends of a one-and-one. Punahou missed a 3-point attempt with 15 seconds remaining, and Wood again was fouled and made a free throw to put the Warriors up 43-39.

The Buffanblu missed on their next possession, and Nihipali made a free throw for the final margin.

"To beat a team like Kamehameha, you gotta to play all 32 minutes," Punahou coach Mike Taylor said. "We didn't execute down the stretch, and that's my fault. I take responsibility for that."

Nihipali, a sophomore, scored a season-high 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Warriors.

"My teammates got me pumped up," Nihipali said. "Ashley's been talking about this game every day, since last week. She's our role model, our spirit-lifter."

Ruff scored all eight of her points in the second half, and had two key rebounds and baskets in the final 75 seconds.

"Six points down is a lot, but two minutes is a lot of time," Ruff said. "We had confidence in each other that we could do it."

The game was the fifth meeting between the teams including preseason, with Punahou winning three. Kamehameha won last week's regular-season meeting, 47-40, to force last night's playoff for the overall title.

"I hate losing, and it really got to me that we lost to them three times," Ruff said. "I think we have equal amounts of talent. Every time we play Punahou, it's a big game, and all our team talked about was this game. To win ILH is an awesome feeling."

Kamehameha 12 8 9 15—44
Punahou 10 11 10 8—39

Kamehameha—India Soo 0, Ashley Ruff 8, Courtney Chai 0, Adrianne Hee 0, Kekai Crabbe 2, Amber Carter 3, Lehua Wood 5, Mounia Nihipali 16, Megan Kanoa 0, Megan Ching 10, Tiffany Ann Shim 0. Totals 18 7-21 44.

Punahou—Rachel Kane 6, Elyse Umeda 1, Shanna-Lei Dacanay 8, Megan Abbott 2, Seisha Sukekane 0, Kristen LaVine 0, Janelle Shin 6, Kelly Karns 0, Christine Takara 0, Becky Hogue 16. Totals 10 18-24 39.

3-point goals—Kamehameha 1 (Carter). Punahou 1 (Dacanay).

ILH BASEBALL

Iolani 4, Kamehameha 2: Kelly Teramoto's two-run double sparked a three-run seventh as the Raiders rallied past the Warriors in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu tournament game at Ala Wai field. The Raiders will play Mid-Pacific tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Aloha Stadium.

Iolani 100 000 3—4 7 0
Kamehameha 002 000 0—2 5 0

Rich Olsen and Kala Ka'aihue. Shannon Kahale, Kaula na Chang (3) and Baba Merino. W—Olsen. L— Chang.

Leading hitters: Iolani— Kelly Teramoto 2-4, triple, 2 RBIs. Kamehameha—Tyler Perkins 2-3.

OIA TRACK AND FIELD

O'ahu Interscholastic Association

At Mililani High School

Preliminaries

Boys

100: 1, Timothy Flowers, Leilehua, 11.31Q. 2, Jerry Perreira, Roosevelt, 11.38Q. 3, Jonathan Nakasone, Roosevelt, 11.43Q.

200: 1, Timothy Flowers, Leilehua, 22.93Q. 2, Jerry Perreira, Roosevelt, 22.93Q. 3, Teacel Hines, Waianae, 23.52Q.

400: 1, Adam Zeithammel, Radford, 51.62Q. 2, Ryan Keomaka, Roosevelt, 52.15Q. 3, David Kaihenui, Kailua, 52.35Q.

800: 1, George Seymour, Roosevelt, 2:05.01Q. 2, Clint Imholte, Mililani, 2:05.60Q. 3, Marshall Felder, Pearl City, 2:05.29Q.

1,500: 1, Brian Venglar, Radford, 4:21.73Q. 2, Evan Patek, Roosevelt, 4:23.93Q. 3, Clint Imholte, Mililani, 4:21.75Q.

3,000: 1, Cheyenne Diaz, Cast, 9:55.5hQ. 2, Jeff Lim, Mililani, 9:55.7hQ. 3, David Sato, Aiea, 9:57.4hQ.

110 Hurdles: 1, Kyle Wade, Radford, 15.58Q. 2, Jared Tufaga, Kahuku, 15.70Q. 3, Shown Francis, Roosevelt, 15.73Q.

300 Hurdles: 1, Shown Francis, Roosevelt, 40.67Q. 2, Sirron Bowman, Leilehua, 40.91Q. 3, Kyle Wade, Radford, 41.28Q.

4x100 Relay: 1, Roosevelt High School 'A' (Joshua Kimsel , Jerry Perreira , Kealii Oleole, Jonathan Nakasone ), 44.19q. 2, Kailua High School 'A' (Jason Moore , Mike Garcia , David Kaihenui , Nate Leaver ), 44.57q. 3, Radford High School 'A' (James Johnson , Chris Thorpe , Jeremy Hoover , Adam Zeithammel ), 44.62q.

4x400 Relay: 1, Roosevelt High School 'A' (Jonathan Nakasone , George Seymour, Jerry Perreira ), 3:31.67q. 2, Leilehua High School 'A' (Zacarias Rivera Jr , Sirron Bowman , Tekoree Fagan , Timothy Flowers ), 3:32.75q. 3, Pearl City High School 'A' (Marcus Felder , Marshall Felder , Daniel Lang , Kevin Lao ), 3:33.45q.

Girls

100: 1, April Wallace, Leilehua, 13.27Q. 2, Latia Jackson, Leilehua, 13.27Q. 3, Anela Gonzales, Kailua, 13.32Q.

200: 1, April Wallace, Leilehua, 27.67Q. 2, Euvelyn Calma, Farrington, 27.69Q. 3, Anela Gonzales, Kailua, 28.04Q.

400: Marissa Gordon, Kaiser, 1:02.75Q. 2, Euvelyn Calma, Farrington, 1:03.25Q. 3, Anela Gonzales, Kailua, 1:02.76Q.

800: 1, Leilani Kaluhiokalani-Myers, Cast, 2:25.74Q. 2, Carmen Calpo, Pearl City, 2:25.87Q. 3, Kari Tanimoto, Pearl City, 2:28.16Q.

110 Hurdles: 1, Krisha Kai, Kahuku, 16.41Q. 2, Jessica Rohr, Kaiser, 16.44Q. 3, Mei Li Nickles, Mililani, 16.45Q.

300 Hurdles: 1, Jessica Rohr, Kaiser, 48.30Q. 2, Mei Li Nickles, Mililani, 50.26Q. 3, Shannon Parks, Cast, 49.76Q.

4x100 Relay: 1, Mililani High School 'A' (Chun Mei Nickels , Jennifer Loo , Liane Tom , Sophia Tunstall ) 52.38Q. 2, Leilehua High School 'A' (Sandrena Davis, Latia Jackson , Mishalei Rivera , April Wallace ), 53.14Q. 3, Kaiser High School 'A' (Leila Abuzalaf, Marissa Gordon , Jenna Hino , Alice Or ), 53.89Q.