No. 2 Punahou powers past No. 9 Kailua in opening-round rout

Rayden Aoki | SL

James Taras scored a game-high 21 points and Dillon Kellner added 12 to help No. 2 Punahou pull away from No. 9 Kailua, 76-40, in a first-round game of the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Division I Boys Basketball State Championships at Hemmeter Fieldhouse Monday night.

The Buffanblu (10-2) outscored the Surfriders (10-4) by a 47-20 margin after halftime to keep their season alive. They will play third-seeded Kamehameha-Hawaii in a 7 p.m. quarterfinal Thursday at Saint Louis.

Kailua's season is over.

Taras drained three 3-pointers and Kellner tallied two more to pace Punahou, which saw all 17 of its players get into the game with all but four of them scoring at least two points. Kekai Burnett chipped in nine points off the bench in the win.

Punahou hit eight 3-pointers in all. It held a 12-11 lead after the first quarter, but separated in the second quarter to take a 29-20 advantage into halftime.

Maddox Pung scored 15 points and Dylan Kunz and Noa Donnelly chipped in 10 apiece for the Surfriders, the fourth-place team out of the Oahu Interscholastic Association.