Punahou's James Taras (12) goes up for a layup and drew a block on Kamehameha's Xander Aquino (5) to get to the free throw line. Brandon Ching

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Tue, Jan 9, 2024 @ Punahou

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Kamehameha

38

Punahou

53

Final	1	2	3	4
Kamehameha (3-9, 11-13)	5	8	13	12	38
Punahou (9-2, 23-6)	13	10	13	17	53

J. Taras 18 pts  2 3pm  2/4 FTs

K. Wade 11 pts  1 3pm  0/0 FTs

James Taras scored from inside and out as No. 2 Punahou weathered No. 7 Kamehameha-Kapalama's run and pulled away to win, 53-38, at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

The 6-foot-5 Taras mixed it up as he scored inside the paint and and extended his range with two 3-pointers that came in the fourth quarter to finish with a game-high 18 points.

"That's what he does and what he's been doing all year. He was very disciplined today and (Kainoa) Wade's a good shot blocker so you have to be smart and calculated and he did a good job today," Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said.

Ayndra Uperesa-Thomas contributed 11 and Dillon Kellner with eight as the Buffanblu improved to 3-0 in the ILH Division I standings.

"The big thing for us is not getting too overconfident. Starting out 3-0 is a confidence booster for sure. Every team in this league is good and it's important for us to hunker down and really focus for this game and make sure we didn't get too overconfident and give up a good thing that we have going," Taras said.

Kainoa Wade scored a team-high 11 and Xander Aquino added nine and combined to hit three of the team's four 3-pointers as the Warriors (1-2 ILH) dropped their second consecutive game.

"He's ginormous," Taras said of guarding Wade. "Our coaches had us practicing all week on how to guard it and I felt pretty prepared."

"Wade is a tough guard, he's 6-9 and he's athletic and has a nice jumper. I thought James did a good job today," Matsuda said.

The Warriors trimmed a 16-point deficit down to four, 38-34, after Wade hit a bank shot that forced a Punahou timeout with 5:44 left in the fourth quarter.

"The boys fought hard and played hard. We hit a couple shots and cut the lead to four and Punahou went bang, bang on those 3's and that was it for tonight. But that's this league, execution in key moments," Kamehameha coach Larry Park said.

The Buffanblu followed up the timeout with a 11-2 run led by Taras. He hit a 3-pointer at the 5:00 mark and with 2:26 left, hit a shot over the 6-foot-9 Wade. Nahiku Nahale-a got to the lane to make it, 43-36, but Evan Porter and Taras followed up with consecutive triples to extend the lead to 12 and pulled away for good.

"If anyone has a shot, they're going to take it. I just so happen to get good passes from my teammates and had the open shot," Taras said.

"Him and Ayndra have hit big shots when the game's on the line and that's the maturity of being seniors and being comfortable where they're at. We need those guys to step up and they did," Matsuda said.

Makai Barr scored the final points for the Warriors on a reverse layup and the Buffanblu closed out the game shooting 4 for 8 from the free throw line.

Punahou finished 7 for 15 (46.6 percent) from the charity stripe, while Kamehameha ended 4 for 6 (66.6 percent).

The Buffanblu won their first three ILH games by an average of 15.0 points per game and goes to No. 1 Saint Louis (3-0 ILH) in a battle of unbeaten teams in the ILH on Thursday, Jan. 11 at 6 p.m.

Kamehameha came out in a 2-3 zone and Punahou worked the ball around patiently on offense. The Buffanblu broke a 5-all tie with an 8-0 run to close the first quarter.

"All year they have been playing a zone so knew we had to work on our zone offense and it's one of our weaknesses going into this week. We had a chance to work on it, we were confident going into the game," Taras said.

"I was happy we were patient and we didn't launch shots and worked the zone today and that's the maturity of the team, a senior-led team. That helped us a lot. There were some good shots that we passed up to get better shots and that's what we need to do to win. I was pretty happy with what we did," Matsuda said.

Taras scored six points in the quarter as the Buffanblu led by 10 four times in the second quarter and Uperesa-Thomas' shot put Punahou ahead, 23-13 at halftime.

"On offense our coaches really emphasize to go with your normal shot and it will work out," Taras said.

"First half we struggled scoring, but we had a lot of paint touches. Christian (Togiai), Kainoa (Wade), a couple close ones that didn't fall. We have confidence in them shooting those shots. We just have to hit them," Park said.

The Warriors got within seven with 6:14 to go in the third quarter following Aquino's free throws but Punahou went on a 11-2 run to go up, 34-18.

Kamehameha got into a rhythm and closed out the final two minutes of the third quarter on a 8-2 run. Shyne Salvador converted a 3-point play, Aquino drained a 3-pointer in the corner, and Salvador followed up with a layup to trail, 36-26 going into the fourth.

"I think a couple transition buckets. We got the transition layup and when we get those that gets us going too. Getting the easy baskets in transition, seeing the ball going into the basket, some of the other shots will start falling," Park said.

Uperesa-Thomas opened up the fourth with a pair of free throws, but Wade hit a 3 in the left corner and Aquino hit a deep 3-pointer beyond the left wing with 6:46 left.

"We knew they had some shooters that can shoot it from way out. If they're hitting, they're going to go on a run. We were prepared for it and make sure it didn't affect us mentally," Taras said.

"They're a good 3-point shooting team and they're going to hit some and we have to work it and defend as best as we can and weather the storm," Matsuda said.

Kamehameha goes to No. 4 Maryknoll (1-2) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

The Warriors and Buffanblu are scheduled to meet again at Kekuhaupio Gymnasium on Jan. 20.