Iolani opens ILH basketball play by rallying past Punahou, 68-45
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
Coming in fresh out of the cold, the Iolani School boys basketball team turned to the red-hot shooting of Derrick Low and Bobby Nash last night to run past Punahou, 68-45, at Punahou's Hemmeter Field House.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
It was the Interscholastic League of Honolulu opener for both teams.
Punahou's Daniel Bertao, left, fouls Iolani's Bobby Nash during this fourth-quarter encounter. Iolani won the ILH game, 68-45.
Low scored a game-high 28 points and Nash added 17 points to lead the defending state champion Raiders, who returned from a nine-day trip to the frigid Northeast last Friday night.
Iolani's annual Winter Ball was on Saturday, and school resumed on Monday.
"We felt worn out, but we were still motivated for this game," Low said. "Whenever we play Punahou, it gets us pumped up and it gives us more energy, especially when their crowd starts making noise. That gives us a boost."
Punahou's cheering section erupted early in the third period, when Andrew Amigleo's layup on a wrap-around move gave the Buffanblu a 31-27 lead. The Raiders had led 15-8 after one period and 21-18 at halftime.
"Punahou had a nice defensive scheme and they had slowed us down," Iolani coach Mark Mugiishi said. "They had a lot of hustle and they were out-boarding us in the first half. Plus they were shooting well, and that kept the crowd in the game. We needed to play better defense — we were giving them wide-open looks. When a team is shooting well like that, you gotta challenge their shots."
Trailing 31-27, Iolani called a full timeout, and then Low promptly buried a 3-pointer from 22 feet on the right wing. The Raiders' Todd Blankenship followed with a layup, Ryan Hirata hit a short jumper and Low scored on a driving layup to make it 36-31 with 2:45 remaining.
Low drained another long 3-pointer with a minute remaining in the period to make it 41-34, and the Buffanblu would get no closer. Nash scored nine points and Low added eight points in the final period as Iolani outscored Punahou 27-11.
"The game changed real quick, and there were two reasons — Derrick and Bobby," Buffanblu coach Greg Tacon said. "They went to a low 1-4 set and just let Derrick shoot or drive."
Iolani had beaten Punahou twice in the preseason, each time by at least 20 points. But Tacon said each time the Buffanblu were experimenting with defensive approaches to contain Low, a 6-foot-1 junior point guard, and Nash, a 6-6 senior forward.
"We looked at the tapes and decided we gotta treat them differently from other teams," Tacon said. "We like to press, but we know we can't press them because of Derrick. We just tried to slow it down (last night) in a halfcourt set and keep moving, and it worked for a while because we were making shots and stopping their transition game.
"But Derrick is a phenomenal talent. Those shots he made were under duress, and they were NBA 3s. And Bobby got into a good rhythm — I haven't seen him so smooth in the post. Those two kids weren't going to let the game slip away, and they're tough to beat when both of them get going like that."
Amigleo had 14 points to lead Punahou, which was playing without Stan Fisher, one of its top players. Fisher broke his foot on Dec. 29 and is out for the season.
IOLANI 15 6 20 27—68
PUNAHOU 8 10 16 11—45
IOLANI — Jon Yasuda 4, Derrick Low 28, Ryan Hirata 9, Bobby Nash 17, Zach Tollefson 6, Sean Carney 0, Chad Miller 0, Todd Blankenship 2, Gage Eberlin 2, Vinny Nip 0, Kyle Pape 0. Totals 28 8-9 68.
PUNAHOU — Jason Sakata 8, Andrew Amigleo 14, Daniel Bertao 8, Michael Lam 2, Chris Friedemann 4, Reid Fowler 1, Drew Monahan 8 , Brenton Lee 0, Kasey Ko 0, Scott Otake 0, Zander Schneider 0, Brian Zane 0. Totals 17 5-8 45.
3-point goals— Iolani 4 (Low 3, Hirata); Punahou 6 (Sakata 2, Amigleo 2, Monahan 2).
OIA BASKETBALL
• ROOSEVELT 68, KAILUA 48: Bryson Borges scored 26 points and Anthony Holyfield 18 as the visiting Rough Riders beat the Surfriders in an O'ahu Interscholastic Association game last night.
Kealii Kalahiki had 15 points for Kailua, including four 3-pointers.
Roosevelt 20 20 12 16—68
Kailua 5 11 13 19—48
ROOSEVELT—Shane Kamakura 4, Bryson Borges 26, Ryan Keomaka 0, Ivan Fujii 0, Daniel Ki 2, Daniel Balbas 4, Anthony Holyfield 18, Ricky Eusebio 3, Laa Moikeha 0, Danton Balbas 11. Totals 27 11-16 68.
KAILUA—David Kaihenui 8, Tyler Harrison 0, Kealii Kalahiki 15, Derek Mailau 2, Cory Nemoto 0, Bronson Kamaka 3, Koa Sniffen 2, Brad Ching 6, Wayne Kaiu-Denning 4, Eddie Campbell 0, Xavier Hoolulu 4, Zach Meredith 2, Kainoa LaCount 0, Kea Crowell 2. Totals 18 5-10 .
3-point goals—Roosevelt 3 (Borges, Eusebio, Balbas). Kailua 7 (Kalahiki 4, Ching 2, Kaihenui 1).
JV—n/a
• CASTLE 62, MOANALUA 52: Charles Teixeira scored 20 points and William Harvest 16 to lead the visiting Knights over the Menehunes.
Castle led 30-14 at halftime.
Moanalua's Chris Young scored 20 points, including four 3-pointers.
Castle 13 17 15 17—62
Moanalua 7 7 12 26—52
CASTLE—Bryan Pelangka 2, Emmett Aberilla 6, Ernesto Lopez 0, Terry Medez-Kema 2, William Harvest 16, Jordan Ukauka 10, Kurtis Kanekoa 4, Charles Teixeira 20, Antone Watanabe 0, Soli Lefiti 2. Totals 18 22-24 62.
MOANALUA—Joseph Nishimura 6, Brian Bertulfo 2, Glenn Gascon 0, Jaimie Rego 15, Marquise Duvall 5, Jonathan Austad 3, Sean Mullaney 0, Chris Young 20, Darin-Jay Shinagawa 0, John Ishikawa 0, Eric Keys 1, Kamoe Mehrtens 0. Totals 17 13-26 52.
3-point goals—Castle 4 (Harvest 3, Ukauka 1). Moanalua 5 (Young 4, Austad 1).
JV—n/a
• RADFORD 58, CAMPBELL 52: Charles Seanior sank five of Radford's 10 3-pointers and scored a game-high 25 points and Tauran Moore added 18 points as the visiting Rams beat the Sabers.
The Rams outscored the Sabers 32-20 in the second half.
Marcus VanNess scored 16 points for Campbell.
Radford 11 15 16 16—58
Campbell 12 20 6 14—52
RADFORD—Will Kerins 0, Jordan Rellin 0, Mike Davis 4, Joshua Auelua 0, Charles Seanior 25, Richardo Shipley 2, Martin Lara 6, Tauran Moore 18, Daniel Downs 0, La Micheal-Wilkins 3, James Herron 0. Totals 21 6-11 58.
CAMPBELL— James Bannister 5, Robert Morris 5, Walter Daniels 2, Tristan Bailey 12, Ian Kelly 2, Marcus VanNess 16, Taetuli Tafai 4, Rashad Green 6. Totals 20 11-17 52.
3-point goals—Radford 10 (Seanior 5, Moore 3, Wilkins 1, Davis 1). Campbell 1 (VanNess).
JV—Radford 48, Campbell 42
• LEILEHUA 57, WAIPAHU 42: Andrew Talaeai scored 17 points and Zacarius Rivera 15 as the visiting Mules beat the Marauders.
Francis Caliboso scored 17 to lead Waipahu.
Leilehua 13 16 14 14—57
Waipahu 8 12 13 9—42
LEILEHUA—Andrew Talaeai 17, Demetrius Washington 12, Larry McCrum 0, Tyrell Couch 6, Angelo Massey 0, Antonio Carter 5, John Gory 0, Joshua Fetters 2, Zacarius Rivera 15, Anthony Hall 0, Angel Fontanez 0, Jonathan Scruggs 0, Jostin Repollo 0. Totals 14 27-41 57.
WAIPAHU—Jacob Aga 0, Matthew Cabacugan 0, Francis Caliboso 17, Bronson Ebinger 0, Albert Gamayo 0, Jarrett Kalaola 3, Cory Komatsu 6, Christopher Meana 0, Andre Tailele 5, Konan Taito 0, Benedict Tedios 3, Tyrone Vaimoana 0, Lionel Willis 8. Totals 15 5-16 42.
3-point goals—Leilehua 2 (Talaeai 2). Waipahu 7 (Caliboso 5, Kalaola 1, Tailele).
JV—Leilehua 26, Waipahu 21
• 'AIEA 53, WAI'ANAE 47: Samson Chung scored 14 points, including three 3-pointers, and James Hadley added 11 as Na 'Ali'i beat host Wai'anae.
Justin Lafua scored a game-high 21 points for the Seariders.
'Aiea 14 12 18 9—53
Wai'anae 9 9 14 15—47
'AIEA—Ian Delacuesta 0, Samson Chung 14, Timur Sabitov 1, Kelii Kekona 10, James Hadley 11, Gary Molina 4, Jonathan Burgos 2, RJ Kiesel-Kauhane 3, Rocky Savaiigaea 8. Totals 11 28-34 53.
WAI'ANAE—James Robinson 2, Jayson Milares 11, James Quezon 0, Daryl Academias 3, John Solaitas 0, Mika Pitolo 0, Uilau Faliuga 8 , John Kalo 0, Justin Lafua 21, Garrison McEnroe 2. Totals 16 15-30 47.
3-point goals—'Aiea 3 (Chung). Wai'anae none.
JV—Wai'anae 37, 'Aiea 28
SOCCER
Interscholastic League of Honolulu
Boys Varsity
Iolani 3, Mid-Pacific 1. Iol—Riley Bruhn, Chris Faulkner, Nicholas Wong. MPI—Richie Higa.
Hawai'i Baptist 5, Damien 1. HBA—Micah Munekata 2, Cameron Holm, Jonathan Taoka, Daniel Arita. Dami—Tim Picerno.
Pac-Five 1, Kamehameha 0. P5—Alex Wong.
Punahou 5, Saint Louis 1. Pun—Stephen Carlson, Callum Trigg-Smith, John Garibaldi, Andrew Strand, Satoshi Mistuda. StL—Jonathan Pang.
O'ahu Interscholastic Association
Western Division
Girls Varsity
Radford 3, Wai'anae 0. Rad—Aileen Salazar, Emerisa Sato, Jessie Sur.
Leilehua 3, Nanakuli 0. Lei—Charlene Borromeo, Kelly Wert, Matalaoa Tuitele.
Waialua 2, Waipahu 0. Waial—Richelle Umbau, Kira Nakasono.
Pearl City 2, Kapolei 0. PC—Lauren Maeshiro, Christie Ayers.
Mililani 1, 'Aiea 0. Mil—Nicky Harris.
Girls JV
Leilehua 4, Nanakuli 0
Pearl City 0, Kapolei 0
Mililani 8, 'Aiea 0
Boys Varsity
Wai'anae 1, Radford 0. Waian—Reed Baldomero.
Waipahu 3, Waialua 2. Waip—Howard Howell 2, Paul Kiyan. Waial—Trystyn Schleider 2.
Pearl City 5, Kapolei 0. PC—Ricky Shinn 2, Christopher, Keone Peiper, Kenshiro Uki.
Mililani 0, 'Aiea 0 (tie)
SOFTBALL
O'ahu Interscholastic Association
Girls JV
Castle 21, Farrington 0
Kailua 11, Kalaheo 2
Kapolei 14, Nanakuli 4
