No 9 Sacred Hearts rallies by No. 8 Hawaii Baptist, 47-35

Sacred Hearts' Jessica Hanashiro scored a team-high 15 points in the Lancers comeback victory over Hawaii Baptist. Steve Erler | Special to SL

Zoe-Ann Yamamoto and Jessica Hanashiro combined for 29 points – 23 coming in the second half – to help Sacred Hearts Academy rally past host Hawaii Baptist Academy, 47-35, Tuesday night in non-league, inter-divisional girls' basketball.

The Interscholastic League of Honolulu teams – the No. 9 Lancers of Division I and the No. 8 Lady Eagles of Division II – scheduled the midseason non-league contest to stay active during the league's holiday break, which lasts about two weeks. Both teams' last regular season games were before Christmas and both don't resume play until Jan. 5.

"It's a long break," SHA coach Ryan Hogue said. "We want to keep our game legs under us and HBA is a solid team, so it's a perfect match up. It's a non-league team, but they give you a good look and give our girls a chance not to get rusty over a long break."

Hanashiro had 15 points and Yamamoto had 14, but had just six points between them in the first half. Meanwhile, HBA's Stephanie Dang led all scorers with 20 points, 13 coming in the first half, including three 3-pointers, one coming at the buzzer before the intermission to increase the Lady Eagles' lead to 20-15.

The Lancers, despite missing 3 of 4 free throws in a 5-0 run, tied the game at 20 with 4:18 in the third quarter. The Lady Eagles regained the lead shortly after on CJ Ramos' basket – the only field goal by HBA in the third period - but Dallas Martinez's free throws with 2:39 tied the game at 22. The Lancers then went on a 13-0 run from the end of the third to the beginning of the fourth to take a commanding 33-22 lead before the Lady Eagles finally broke their scoring drought with Katelyn Nakagawa's 3-pointer.

Hawaii Baptist closed to within 37-30 with 4:17 left in the game when Dang strung five consecutive points – her first field goal of the second half did not come until 5:06 left in the game. The Lady Eagles were forced to foul to make up their deficit, but the Lancers cashed in, making 8 of 13 free throws in the closing 4:13 of the game to stave off any kind of HBA rally.

It was a tale of two halves for the teams. Dang accounted for 13 of HBA's 20 first-half points, but did not get her next basket until the fourth period. One of the differences was Yamamoto not playing Dang so tight defensively.

"I think I realized how to play her (in the second half)," Yamamoto said. "She's like lightning quick. She's not easy to guard, so I had to play off of her because she could beat me."

Added Hogue: "It was great to see because she's capable of doing that. She's struggled a bit this year so this was great for her confidence. She can be a very, very good shooter. She can be a leader and a great defensive player, so it's good for her to see the ball go through the net and get into a rhythm."

There were stretches in the second half where HBA couldn't buy a basket against the Lancers, who mixed their man-to-man and zone defenses effectively.

"We have to do a better job of finding different ways to score," HBA coach Keith Sugiura said. "We really didn't get our transition going. When shots don't fall, we get a little tentative. It's a good learning experience for us."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].