Noa Donnelly (30) finished with 20 points and puts up a shot in the paint over Maryknoll's Nixis Yamauchi (22) and Kaniala Woo (33) in the Moanalua Basketball Invitational. Brandon Ching

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Thu, Dec 7, 2023 @ Moanalua

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Kailua

42

Maryknoll

40

Final	1	2	3	4
Kailua (10-3, 21-7)	4	12	11	15	42
Maryknoll (7-4, 21-6)	10	11	5	14	40

Z. Milare 11 pts  1 3pm  6/8 FTs

N. Donnelly 20 pts  6/8 FTs

SALT LAKE -- Noa Donnelly and Maddox Pung provided a inside-out scoring punch to help Kailua hold off Maryknoll, 42-40, in the nightcap of the second night of the Moanalua Basketball Invitational Thursday.

Donnelly, a Second Team All-Hawaii selection last season, muscled and powered his way in the paint for 20 points and Pung battled an illness and came off the bench to drop 17 and all three of the Surfriders' 3-pointers to extend their winning streak to seven and handed the Spartans (7-1 overall) their first loss of the preseason.

"We came in this game, a lot of us are sick. I didn't start because I missed the last couple practices because I was sick. I had to play today. We wanted to come here with energy. Make our shots, we've been having slow starts the last couple games," Pung said.

The Surfriders (7-1 overall) held a four point lead in the fourth before Hunter Marumoto hit a three then kicked it out to Nixis Yamauchi in the corner for another triple to lead, 37-35.

Kailua went on a 6-0 run as Donnelly tied the game at 37 and made both bonus free throws for a 39-37 lead with 2:05 left in the fourth. Pung extended it to four off a dribble-drive.

"I felt like I had to pick it up. I had shot out of it. I had to make shots eventually, I was in the zone and I was letting it fly and the ball went in," Pung said.

Yamauchi and Zion Milare could not get their drives to fall and Dylan Kunz and Skylar Unten combined to shoot 1 for 4 in the final 14 seconds to go up five. Milare hit a 3-pointer late when the game was already decided.

Milare led the Spartans with 11 points and went 6 for 8 from the free throw line. Yamauchi, a transfer from Kamehameha-Hawaii added nine and pair of 3s and Marumoto finished with seven points and two triples.

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After losing All-Hawaii First Team guard Johnny Philbrick to graduation, Pung has stepped up to take on the scoring mantle.

"I learned a lot from Johnny. The biggest thing was keep shooting and shoot out of it," Pung said.

Donnelly shot 6 for 8 from the free throw line as the team shot 11 for 18 (61 percent).

"That was huge for us, it's free points right there. That's more points for free points for us to get up without that contact in our face," Donnelly said.

Donnelly and the rest of his teammates made sure Maryknoll's drives to the rim were contested.

"They get to the rack fast. Split second was between me getting to the rim and them getting to the rim. That's two points right there, it was huge for us to protect the rim," Donnelly said.

The Spartans as a team shot 8 for 14 (57.1 percent) from the free throw line.

Maryknoll went up by as much as 11 in the second quarter following Yamauchi's jumper that forced a Kailua timeout. Following the timeout, the Surfriders responded as Donnelly and Pung combined on a 7-0 run. Donnelly sank a pair of free throws to bring Kailua within two.

He scored seven points in the second and fourth quarters.

"As the first quarter and half went through, we realized they were honing in more on me. So it allowed Maddox, Dylan (Kunz), everybody else to get their shots up. They are going to double team or triple team me in the post with the one-on-one. So it allowed us for other guys to get open," Donnelly said.

However, Maryknoll closed out the half going 3 for 4 from the foul line for a 21-16 lead at halftime.

Sebastian Ledda got to the line four times in the third quarter to provide an offensive spark to get the Surfriders within one as the team struggled from the field.

"They're (Maryknoll) a very well-rounded team. They got bigs, they got guards so they're a hell of a team. The difference was we were able to have that comeback in the end of the third quarter. Sebastian was able to get us some fouls and to get us the line," Donnelly said.

Keanu Lee answered with a backdoor cut from Ghesiah Faleafine-Auwae and Milare split his pair of free throws.

Pung drained a 3-pointer to get within one and scored off a drive to give Kailua a 27-26 lead going into the fourth.

"That was huge. Maddox is going to do amazing things. I can't wait what he turns out to be later on toward his senior year. I hope he's one of the best players in the state," Donnelly said.

Kailua will take on Seaside (Oregon) at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Iolani at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Maryknoll wraps up the Invitational against Roosevelt (Eastvale, California) on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.