Moanalua guard Jamal Willis attempts to get a shot attempt off over Punahou's Semisi Uluvale. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Punahou forward Kupono Fey drives the ball against Moanalua. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Moanalua's Kahanu Pu'ulei-Auld splits two Punahou defenders on his way to the basket. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Fri, Dec 7, 2012 @ Radford

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Punahou

45

Moanalua

50

Final	1	2	3	4
Punahou (8-4, 22-8)	12	8	16	9	45
Moanalua (12-2, 20-10)	9	15	16	10	50

K. Pu'ulei-Auld 17 pts  7/9 FTs

N. Velasquez 17 pts  4 3pm  1/2 FTs

Kahanu Pu'ulei-Auld scored 12 of his team-high 17 points in the second half and Moanalua held off defending Division I state champion Punahou, 50-45, Friday night in a semifinal of the James Alegre Basketball Invitational at Jim Alegre Gymnasium.

A spirited crowd of about 150 watched a nail-biting finish that sends Na Menehune (4-0) to Saturday's tournament championship against Kamehameha. Tipoff is 1:30 p.m.

The Buffanblu (1-1) will play Pearl City at noon for third place.

"Playing really good teams is good for a group like ours," Moanalua coach Greg Tacon said. "Win or lose, we have to figure out where we are and (learn) how to compete. Those last four minutes, they kept coming at us. For us just to stay solid - and we made some mistakes and that's just growing pains - I'm really proud of how we realized that we just have to be solid."

Na Menehune led by as many as nine points in the third quarter and saw the Buffanblu slowly battle back to pull to within 46-45 with 41 seconds left on Kupono Fey's drive to the hoop. But Fey, who drew two fouls in the opening moments of the game and missed about half the first half, drew his fourth foul trying to force a turnover. Pu'ulei-Auld made both free throws in the double-bonus situation with 35 seconds left to cushion Moanalua's lead to three.

Fey fouled out with 12 seconds left, turning over the ball to Moanalua and Pu'ulei-Auld drained both ends of his double-bonus free throws to make it a two-possession game for the Buffanblu with 11 seconds left. Punahou missed its final three shots, including two from 3-point range, as time ran out.

"I think Kupono's been the best player the past two years," Tacon said. "I love Kupono. But you have to play with foul trouble. We had foul trouble, too. But you have to play everybody. They have more than (enough) competent kids. If they're knocking down jumpers, we're in for a long night. If they miss jumpers, we have to secure rebounds and we'll have a chance."

"Kupono's a key factor for what we're going to do," Punahou coach Darren Masuda said. "But we have to develop the rest of the kids where if we get in foul trouble, we won't miss a beat."

Nicholas Velasquez led Punahou with 17 points, 12 coming in the first half on four 3-pointers. Fey, hampered by the early foul trouble, went scoreless in the first half. He made his presence felt early in the third, accounting for Punahou's first nine points - his game total - of the second half. But shortly after scoring his second field goal of the half, he drew his third foul.

The fouls hurt Punahou, as Moanalua went to the line 26 times, converting 16. Pu'ulei-Auld was 7 of 9 with free throws.

Masuda wasn't overly concerned at this juncture of the preseason. The Interscholastic League of Honolulu didn't start practice until Nov. 19, so it takes its teams a while to jell, he said.

"We have a lot of work," he said. "This is a real young team. We have nine sophomores. We're putting in a lot of new stuff, so it's going to look ugly for awhile."

The Buffanblu lost a number of key players, such as 6-foot-7 DeForest Buckner, 6-6 Malik Johnson and Ka'aha McAfee-Torco, but five of the nine sophomores on the team are returnees, including point guard Dayson Watanabe.

Punahou took a 12-9 lead into the second quarter and extended that lead to 18-11 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Velasquez, the latter with 5:58 left in the half. But Na Menehune used a 11-2 run that was sparked by a Justin Hudcovic outback of Pu'ulei-Auld's missed front-end of a one-and-one with 5:46 left. Pu'ulei-Auld showed signs of what was to come in the second half when he closed the first with five consecutive points for Moanalua.

Moanalua had a 40-36 lead entering the fourth quarter and watched the Buffanblu pull to within one twice before Pu'ulei sealed the game with his final four free throws.