The Kamehameha Warriors defeated the Kahuku Red Raiders, 62-40, in the nightcap of the opening round of Moanalua's OIA-ILH Challenge.

Kamehameha guard Makoa Camanse-Stevens returned from a sprained ankle he suffered during last week's Jim Alegre Invitational at Radford, leading the Warriors with 16 points and two 3 pointers.  

"I didn't have the greatest game, I came off of an injury. I felt like my teammates did a good job stepping up. A couple players made big plays today." said Camanse-Stevens.

At the end of the first quarter, Kamehameha led 21-5. The Warriors half court defense rattled the Red Raiders, leading to points off of turnovers.

In the second quarter, the Red Raiders found some rhythm and flow on offense and cut the deficit to 9 points. Kamehameha had their own troubles on offense and Kahuku guard Drayton Aki hit a 3 pointer at the buzzer to bring the Red Raiders within five, 31-26.

Kamehameha head coach Julian Nakanishi remarked, "That's Kahuku ball, they never quit. This is learning time for us as a young team, learning how to play with a lead. Anytime you play with a lead, you got to step on it some more."

In the second half, Kamehameha made some defensive adjustments and never looked back.

Nakanishi said to his team, "Stop reaching, stop fouling and get back to what we do: full court trapping that leads us to easy buckets. I give my boys credit they came out of the half and got back to what we do."

The Warriors jumped out to a 12-0 run to open the third quarter as Kahuku struggled to make shots. Kahuku forward Hirkley Latu broke the scoring drought and hit a jump shot with 3:55 remaining and those were the only points Kahuku scored in third quarter.

Kahuku head coach Darren Johnson said, "We did some good things, a lot of mistakes, we weren't making the little shots that would keep us in the game, we missed a lot of rebounds that slipped out of our hands."

The Warriors continued to enjoy a comfortable lead going into the fourth quarter and were never challenged.

Lasselle Thompson led the Red Raiders with 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers

Kamehameha plays Moanalua, in a rematch of the Jim Alegre Invitational final at 5 pm Friday. Kahuku plays Maryknoll at 6:30 pm.