Posted on: Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Punahou can't hold on to late lead in 54-48 loss

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Punahou came within two minutes of one of its boys basketball program's biggest victories last night, only to see Male (Louisville, Ky.) rally for a 54-48 win at the Iolani Prep Classic.

The Buffanblu will play another Mainland power, Roman Catholic (Philadelphia), at 3:30 p.m. today.

Male, with four key players back from a team that went 20-10 last year in a basketball-rich region, is ranked No. 5 in Kentucky. But Punahou (1-2 in the tournament) led the Bulldogs 45-40 with 3:19 remaining in the game and held the lead until Shane Harvey's free throws tied it at 47-47 with 1:41 left.

After Douglas Beaumont's jumper gave Male (2-1) a 49-47 lead, Spencer McLachlin sank a free throw to pull the Buffanblu to 49-48 with 1:03 remaining.

Forrest Smallwood added two free throws to make it 51-48 with 46 seconds left, and Punahou guard Jeremiah Ostrowski missed a 25-foot 3-point attempt. Corey Gainey then made three of four free throws to seal it for the Bulldogs.

"You'd think we'd have a good chance being up by five late, but we just made some terrible decisions in pressure situations," Buffanblu coach Greg Tacon said. "You cannot allow a good team like Male to have those opportunities, because they will definitely take advantage of that. There's no moral victory for us, because we've got to learn how to win. Our league (Interscholastic League of Honolulu) is as tough as they come."

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 9-0 start and led 29-19 early in the second half. But led by Ostrowski, a 5-foot-10 sophomore guard, the Buffanblu fought their way back and took a 41-40 lead with 4:47 remaining in the game. McLachlin swished a 12-foot jumper and made a putback to push the lead to 45-40, but Male stormed back, helped by a couple of Punahou turnovers.

Ostrowski, with three deep, high-arching 3-pointers and several dazzling layups, tied Smallwood for game-high honors with 22 points.

"(Punahou) is a good squad, and when No. 12 (Ostrowski) is shooting like that, they're hard to guard," Bulldogs coach Bryce Hibbard said.

Roman Catholic rallies past Iolani, 55-50

The Iolani School boys basketball team found its shooting touch yesterday against Roman Catholic (Philadelphia), lost it again, regained it and then finally fell, 55-50.

The three-time defending state champion Raiders (1-2) will face their third straight Mainland powerhouse opponent, Male (Louisville, Ky.), at 5 p.m. in today's final round of the Iolani Prep Classic.

Iolani's shooting woes (4 for 18 in the first half Monday) resulted in a 57-36 loss to Rice (New York) in the quarterfinals, but the Raiders started hot yesterday, taking a quick 5-0 lead on Kawika Shoji's 3-pointer and Vinny Nip's jumper. Iolani extended the lead to 27-16 until just before the half, when Roman Catholic's Brian Wanamaker scored on consecutive layups to cut it to 27-20 at intermission.

The Cahillites (2-1) then had a 17-6 run to open the second half and took a 40-35 lead into the fourth period as the Raiders suddenly struggled again from outside. Roman Catholic built the lead to 44-35 early in the fourth, but Iolani came charging back.

Two 3-pointers by Shoji and one by Nip spurred a 15-5 run that put the Raiders up, 50-49, with 2:40 remaining. But Iolani would not score again, as the Cahillites ended the game with a 6-0 run.

"It was more than just shooting," Raiders coach Mark Mugiishi said. "We have to learn how to finish games. We're a young team (only one senior), so it's a learning process."

Nip led all scorers with 16 points — including four 3-pointers — and Shoji added 13 points. Mike Ringgold led Roman Catholic with 15 points.

The Cahillites return several key players from a team that went 22-7 and finished second in their league last season. Roman Catholic coach Dennis Seddon said his players were "lackadaisical" in the first half, but were able to recover in the third period.

"To the kids' credit, they bounced back," Seddon said.

NOTES

According to the bracket, Iolani and Punahou were supposed to play each other for seventh place today. But since the two Interscholastic League of Honolulu rivals met in the James Alegre Invitational two weeks ago and will face each other twice in the regular season, the matchups were changed so they could play Mainland opponents.

The Doubletree Alana Hotel Waikiki will give out free chocolate chip cookies tonight. Also, at halftime of the final two games, a timed shooting contest will be held with a trip to Las Vegas as the prize to the winner who can make all the baskets, including a half-court shot.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.

Semifinals

Rice (N.Y.) 68, Fairfax (CALIF.) 60: Edgar Sosa scored a game-high 20 points, including two 3-pointers, and Joseph Vines added 19 points and nine rebounds to carry the Raiders (3-0) over the Lions (2-1) and into today's championship game against Xaverian (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Fairfax had four players scoring in double-digits (Donovan White 13, Chace Stanback 12, Jamal Boykin 12 and Jerren Shipp 10).

XAVERIAN (N.Y.) 45, MONTVERDE (FLA.) 41: Lavance Fields scored 16 points and Saiquon Stone added 13 to lead the Clippers (3-0) in to the title game. Trailing 43-41, Montverde inbounded the ball under its basket, but turned the ball over. Xaverian's Chris Lowery scored on a fast-break dunk for the final points.

Consolation

Kamehameha 51, St. Anthony 29: Ikaika Hardy scored 10 points for the Warriors (2-1). John Powley had a game-high 14 for the Trojans (1-2).