Front line powers Maryknoll past Kamehameha

Harley Simon | ScoringLive

Led by the trio of Mission Uperesa-Thomas, Ghesiah Faleafine-Auwae and Chris Du, fifth ranked Maryknoll notched its second win of the season in statement fashion, routing seventh ranked Kamehameha, 78-55.

The blowout win over the Warriors came a full 25 days after its season opening victory over Iolani.

Sparty got big contributions from its bigs throughout, highlighted by a heck of a first quarter by Du.The post was huge in the opening minutes, scoring 12 points in the quarter, helping the home team establish a 25 to 18 margin.

"Coach Kelly always tells us to stick to the gameplan," said Du. "That's just get rebounds and get put backs and play defense."

Another key contributor in the first half was Faleafine-Auwae, who racked up 10 points in the first half, inlcuding a heat check three-pointer.

"If we're not going, it's harder for everyone," said Faleafine-Auwae of the importnace of Maryknoll's bigs contributing. "Once we get going, it helps our bench come in, gets us fast breaks."

Not to be overlooked was the steady scoring production of Uperesa-Thomas, who steadily racked up his point total, finishing the contest with a game-high 23.

Kamehameha rallied in the third quarter to get within six points as Logan Souza's two-pointer cut the margin to 45-39, but Maryknoll restablished the margin and then some, closing out the quarter outscoring the Warriors 12-5 to make it a double digit ball game.

From there, the Spartans continued to steadily pull away, eventually clearing the bench in the closing minutes.

Faleafine-Auwae finished with 13 points, eight boards and added a team high five assists. Du scored 15 of his 21 in the first half and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. As for Uperesa-Thomas, he finished with a season-high 23 points and added five rebounds, two steals, two blocks and an assist for good measure.

Kamehameha was led by Justice Slade, who hit four threes en route to a 16 point afternoon. Shyne Salvador was held nine points below his season average with just 11, his lowest output since scoring eight points against Kahuku on Dec. 11.