Wong's 19 points leads Punahou past Lahainaluna

Punahou guard Turner Wong looks to put up a shot over a pair of Lahainaluna defenders. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Punahou may have only had four days of practice prior to an opening night game against Lahainaluna in the Kaiser Girls Basketball Invitational, but any lack of preparation certainly wasn't very evident.

Led by Turner Wong's 19 points, the Buffanblu raced out to an 17-5 first quarter advantage and never looked back in a 66-48 blowout of the Lunas.

"We've had four days of practice, we have a couple of girls hurt, and we're still gelling together, but I think we showed some really bright spots." said Wong. "We were pushing the ball and focusing on defensive pressure."

The Buffanblu built a 24-point lead going into the half and extended that margin to 26 after three quarters of play.

Asia Oliveri and Hailey Motooka chipped in 8 points each and Tyra Moe added 13 points, 4 boards, 3 steals and 3 blocks off the bench.

The Lunas' full court press and defensive pressure forced 14 steals, four of them courtesy of guard Lindsey Bates, but Lahainaluna never really found much consistency offensively to capitalize. Aloha Salem did finish the game 3-for-4 from distance, but Lahainaluna was just 5-of-18 from three as a team.

Salem led the way with 11 points and post Petiola Tuakoi grinded out 7 points and 9 rebounds.

Reach Brien Ing at [email protected].