Hawaii Prep pulls away from Mount Pleasant, 48-36

Hawaii Prep's Nicholas Palleschi puts up a shot against Mount Pleasant. Greg Yamamoto | SL

A strong second half, led by senior forward Nicolas Palleschi fueled Hawaii Prep tp a 48-36 win over Mount Pleasant (San Jose, Calif.) in an opening-round game of the Punahou Boys Basketball Invitational Friday night.

Palleschi scored 13 of his game-high 18 points after halftime to lead Ka Makani past the Cardinals and into Saturday's quarterfinals, where they will play tournament-host Punahou at 8:30 p.m.

A crowd of about 150 fans at the Buffanblu's Christopher B. Hemmeter Fieldhouse saw Hawaii Prep, the defending Division II state champions, outscore Mount Pleasant 33 to 21 in the second half.

Hawaii Prep coach Dave Huntington said he had no information on the Cardinals prior to the game and his team had to adjust on the fly.

"We totally did and really, at this time of year, we talked about how it's just about us — and I'm sure every team is the same way — we've just got to get better and we're not worried about scouting reports or anything like that," Huntington said. "We've got to develop some principles and stick to them and we're getting there."

Palleschi said it was a matter of settling down and finding a comfort zone.

"I think I just got used to the surroundings. This is my first time playing in a tournament in almost a year, so I think I just got used to it and we came together as a team," Palleschi said. "We're really a second-half team. All the credit to my teammates. They just kept getting me looks and I just came out with a mindset that I had to be tough on the offense boards and we definitely had a size advantage and we used that really well."

The score was tied at 15 at halftime. Mount Pleasant held a brief 19-17 lead after a 8-foot jumper by Eric Ibana, but Hawaii Prep answered with a 6-0 run, which included a pair of Palleschi putbacks.

"He's a big, strong guy. When he runs the floor and he does what he can do — which is that — he's effective and then we're effective," Huntington said of Palleschi. "He got some good looks early, but just couldn't finish and I think he was a little more aggressive in how he went at the basket in the second half."

A 7-0 Ka Makani run late in the third quarter led to a 34-28 lead to start the fourth. They outscored the Cardinals in the final stanza, 14 to 8.

Hawaii Prep also got 10 points from Jonas Skupeika, nine from Justas Gecas and eight from Hideyoshi Akai.

Gecas, a senior point guard and the lone returning start from last year's state-championship team, scored all of his points in the second half.

"He's working on becoming a set-up guy — he's kind of an attacking point guard and lead guard and he was probably being a little too hesitant and it led to some turnovers," Huntington said. "He needs to shoot the ball for us. That can't be his second thought right now and I felt like in the first half he was a little tentative or passed up some things and kind of got himself in trouble, (but) in the second half he just let it go and that's what we need him to do."

Anthony Juni had 16 points to lead Mount Pleasant, which will play Castle in a 5:30 p.m. consolation game Saturday.

Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].