Punahou pulls away from Maryknoll, 63-40

By Wes Nakama

Shifting into high gear midway through the second period and into the third, Punahou broke open a close game and pulled away from Maryknoll, 63-40, Monday night in ILH boys basketball action on Tony Sellitto Court.

A near-capacity Homecoming crowd of about 700 and statewide TV audience on Spectrum OC16 watched sophomore Tanoa Scanlan score a game-high 22 points and fellow soph Zion White add 13 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal as the defending state runner-up Buff ‘n Blue improved to 17-3 overall and 2-0 in league play.

The Spartans fell to 13-3, 0-1.

The teams traded baskets for most of the first 10 minutes and Maryknoll led, 16-14, after Mission Uperesa-Thomas’ layup with 6:38 remaining in the second period. But Scanlan answered with a layup about a minute later to ignite a 15-2 run capped by his own layup after a nifty spin move 14 seconds before halftime as Punahou took a 29-18 lead into the break.

The Buff ‘n Blue made 7 of 10 field goals in the second period, including 3 of 4 shooting from 3-point range. On the opposite end, the Spartans were just 3 of 12 overall in the second quarter, including 0 for 5 from beyond the arc.

Punahou then opened the third period with a stunning 14-0 run capped by White’s layup five minutes in to stretch the lead to 43-18. Maryknoll could not get closer than 18 points the rest of the way.

“Coming into the second half, we knew not to let our foot off the gas,” said Scanlan, a mobile 6-foot-5 post. “I think we did a good job of that, just staying aggressive, being unselfish, cutting hard and screening hard.”

Buff ‘n Blue point guard Dash Watanabe, who opened the second half with a 3-pointer on the first possession, finished with 11 points, five assists and three steals — mostly compiled before the fourth period.

“That’s what Dash can do for us,” Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said. “It took him a little bit to go from football shape into basketball rhythm, but (tonight) was the Dash we had all summer.”

Spartans coach Kelly Grant said he regrets not calling a timeout during the Buff ‘n Blue’s 15-2 run in the first half, when Punahou clearly grabbed the game’s momentum.

“I usually want our guys to fight through it, but in hindsight I should have called a timeout earlier to settle the team down,” said Grant, who is in his 13th year at the Spartans’ helm, after several years at Kaimuki before that. “Today was the day I should have done it, because we had extra media timeouts. We just broke down a lot, lack of communication during almost every defensive series. I’m pretty sure they (the Buff ‘n Blue) had 15 open shots. A good defense wouldn’t allow that. We gotta have a good practice tomorrow, we gotta get these guys back on track.”

Nixis Yamauchi led Maryknoll with 13 points and Rome Lilio added 10 points, four blocks and two steals.

Photos: Garin Paguio