Maryknoll's Jaylen Cain puts up a shot against Kahuku. Cain scored 9 points in the Spartans' win over the Red Raiders. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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12051539_MarKahu__0163.jpg - Greg Yamamoto | SL

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A 22-point third quarter helped Maryknoll pull away from Kahuku, 49-41 in the Hawaii Self Storage Black and Gold Classic on Friday night at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium.

The Spartans were led by Hayato Kamata, who scored a game-high 17 points. Jaylen Cain added nine points and Brian Washington led the way with 12 rebounds.

After a couple ties, Maryknoll led, 11-10 after the first quarter. Kahuku outscored Maryknoll, 11-7 in the second and led by as much as six points before the Spartans chipped away to make it 21-18 at halftime.

"We went in a man offense against their zone to get some movement," said Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant, on second half offensive adjustments.

In the third quarter, the Spartans jumped out to a 14-0 run to make it, 32-21 after a pair of Kamata 3-pointers. The Red Raiders got their first points of the quarter at the 3 minute mark. Maryknoll outscored Kahuku, 22-8 in the quarter and took a 40-29 lead going into the fourth.

"We were rusty in the first, but we've been playing strong in the third quarter. For me it was falling. The bigs were sagging off and I was able to knock down shots," said Kamata, who went 4 of 6 from behind the arc.

"He can stroke it, he's proven he can shoot it," added Grant, on Kamata.

"They did a good job adjusting to us. We're not very deep right now and the guys played a lot of minutes. I think they didn't have that bounce in the second half and finishing. It will come, but we have the pieces," said Kahuku coach Alan Akina.

The Red Raiders were able to trim the deficit to six, 46-40 after a 3 from Keanu Akina, who led the team with 11 points and went 2 of 6 from 3-point land. Post players Bradlee Anae and Hirk Latu, who had 10 points, fouled out in the fourth quarter. The Spartans were able to ice the game with free throws.

"We have a brand new rotation and some of them are in football mode. These kids are smart, athletic and competitive, we need a good month. We haven't had many practices—even a full week," said coach Akina.

"Our defense did a good job in the second half, we made adjustments, but Akina, that kid is unbelievable," said Grant. "It was a good game and I think it will be something equivalent we'll see in either Saint Louis and Kamehameha-Kapalama."

The tournament wraps up on Saturday. Maryknoll will play host McKinley at 5 p.m. while Kahuku will play Kamehameha DII at 11 a.m.

The Red Raiders will play in the Iolani Classic and Punahou Invitational while the Spartans will play in four more preseason tournaments. Both teams are slated to play each other again on Dec. 26 in the Punahou Invitational.