Kamehameha, which finished fifth in last year's state tournament, will play the loser of that game in the consolation bracket.

Two other Hawai'i teams suffered worse losses yesterday: Radford was drubbed by Rice (New York), 87-33, and Kalaheo lost to Montverde (Fla.), 70-31.

Kamehameha never led Roman Catholic and fell behind 9-2 to start the game. But the Warriors closed to 15-13 by the end of the first period and came within one, 17-16, after Ikaika Hardie's 3-pointer with 6:40 remaining in the half.

The Cahillites opened the lead back up to 26-19 on layups by Malik Perry, but Quincy Crowell drained a 3-pointer to make it 26-22 with 1:10 left. Kamehameha held the ball until 10 seconds remaining, then had a 3-point attempt blocked.

Kamehameha's Rykin Enos gets off a shot while being defended by Roman Catholic's Malik Perry during the Iolani Prep Classic. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

"We had a not-so-polite discussion at halftime with our players," said Roman Catholic coach Dennis Seddon, who has brought several teams to the Classic since the 1980s. "It was mostly on the subject of defense, but we also needed to make better decisions on offense. But I've been here a number of times, and I've learned no matter how well you prepare, we usually come out flat in the first game.

"But give (Kamehameha) credit, too. They came out at us and did a good job of making us work hard."

The Cahillites came out with renewed energy in the second half, with 6-foot-6 forward Mike Ringgold scoring on three layups and Perry adding another easy basket to spark the 8-0 run.

Hardie finally sank a 3 to make it 34-27 with 4:24 left in the quarter, but those were the Warriors' only points in the period as Roman Catholic responded with a 13-0 spurt. Breakaway dunks by Perry and Brian Wanamaker highlighted the run, and Bill Lally's 24-foot 3-pointer (while being fouled) was the exclamation point.

"Some of our players are still young, and we've had some losses in the post so we're definitely smaller," Kamehameha coach Jesse Nakanishi said. "I would say 90 percent of (the Cahillites') points came on layups, putbacks. We had a great effort, except for the rebounding aspect."

That could be a challenge for the Warriors all season, as 6-foot-4 senior Waika Spencer has been lost for the year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee suffered during football. Spencer had been one of the state's premier post players the past two seasons.

Nakanishi said Kamehameha also lost a couple other post players due to "school-related" reasons.

"We're going more toward an up-tempo game, and we'll focus more on our guards," Nakanishi said. "Our chemistry is not quite there yet, but we'll get there."

Punahou 59, 'Aiea 41

Jeremiah Ostrowski scored 14 points for Punahou, which led 39-9 at halftime.

Nicholas Helsham scored 10 points to lead Na Ali'i.

Punahou will play the winner of today's game between Xaverian (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and St. Anthony in the quarterfinals at 5 p.m. Monday.

'Aiea will face the loser at 12:30 p.m.

Rice (New York) 87, Radford 33

Curtis Kelly scored 20 points and Kashiff Pratt added 11 for Rice.

Mike Davis scored 12 points to lead Radford.

Rice will play the winner of today's game between Iolani and McKinley in the quarterfinals at 8 p.m. Monday.

Radford will face the loser at 9:30 a.m.

Montverde (Fla.) 70, Kalaheo 31

Luc Mbah A Moute scored 18 points and Franck Ndongo added 11 for Montverde.

Montverde will play the winner of today's game between Kaua'i and Male (Louisville, Ky.) in the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. Monday.

Kalaheo will play the loser at 2 p.m.