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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, May 17, 2007

Punahou steals one from Lahainaluna, 66-47

Photo galleryLahainaluna vs. Punahou gallery

By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer

Punahou's Tressa Torres, left, battles Lahainaluna's Roxanne Padron and Ofa Namoa for possession in the first quarter.

REBECCA BREYER | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Too much defensive pressure by Punahou. Too many turnovers for Lahainaluna.

Punahou forced 29 first-half turnovers and its bench scored 50 points in a 66-47 rout of fourth-seeded Lahainaluna yesterday in the quarterfinals of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Girls Basketball Division I State Championships at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"When we're disciplined and we play with a sense of purpose I think our defense is pretty good," Punahou coach Mike Taylor said.

Janelle Nomura scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half and fellow reserve Tressa Torres had all 13 of her points before halftime for Punahou, which had 10 players score.

"All of us on the bench we watch the game when it starts so we have an advantage I think because we see what's going on for a couple of minutes and we come in ready to play and we just bring it," Nomura said.

The Buffanblu put this one away with a 13-0 run in the second period, which gave them a 36-12 lead 3:52 before halftime. Torres scored nine points during the surge for Punahou, which got 35 bench points in the first half.

Punahou (11-6) pressured full-court and had 22 steals by halftime. It finished with 29 steals and forced 40 turnovers.

"They played outstanding defense, but this has got to be the worst game this team has played. There is no doubt about it," Lahainaluna coach Todd Rickard said. "They put on a lot of pressure. Punahou's a great team, but we helped in a lot of ways by throwing the ball away and not bringing the ball up the court."

Punahou led 46-23 at halftime, and its largest lead was 58-30 after a field goal by Ashley Satterwhite with 52 seconds left in the third period.

Dara Tompkison had seven steals, Nomura added six and Torres had five for Punahou.

Ofa Namoa had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Lahainaluna (13-2).

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.