Punahou's Turner Wong puts up a jumper against Kamehameha. Evan Asato | SL

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Kamehameha's Tiare Kanoa puts up shot over Punahou's Kaitlyn Waki. Evan Asato | SL

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Thu, Dec 27, 2012 @ Kamehameha

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Punahou

43

Kamehameha

47

Final	1	2	3	4
Punahou (6-6, 9-6)	14	6	14	9	43
Kamehameha (12-0, 18-0)	6	9	17	15	47

T. Robins-Hardy 14 pts  4/9 FTs

T. Wong 16 pts  2 3pm  4/6 FTs

Tiare Kanoa's 4 points in the final 10 seconds broke a tie and boosted cold-shooting host Kamehameha to a hard-fought 47-43 win over Punahou and allow the Warriors to remain undefeated at 3-0 in ILH play. Punahou dropped to 1-2.

After a basket by Punahou's Tyra Moe made it 43-43 with 19 seconds to go. Kanoa drove the length of the floor for the winning basket with 10 seconds left.  Punahou called time out with 8.4 seconds left, but turned the ball over and fouled Kanoa who made two free throws to seal the victory.

Punahou's Samantha Alakai scored her team's first six points to propel the Buffanblu to 14-6 lead after one quarter.  But, two minutes into the second quarter Alakai collided with a Kamehameha player under the basket and fell to the floor with an ankle injury.  She left at halftime on crutches and did not return, a key loss according to Punahou coach Courtney Robinson.

After making only 5 of 25 field goal attempts in the first half and still trailing 20-15, the Warriors took the lead for the first time 25-24 with 4:41 left in the third quarter when Taira Robbins-Hardy converted a short shot off the glass. Kamehameha seemed to have momentum and expanded the lead to 32-28 only to see Punahou's Kaitlyn Waki and Turner Wong sink a pair of treys in the final 38 seconds.  Wong led all scorers with 16 points.

Kanoa and Robbins-Hardy each had a team-high 14 points and combined for 11 of the Warriors 15 points in the final quarter, while the Kamehameha pressure defense forced 9 Punahou turnovers.  But five missed free throws and several wide-open missed layups left the outcome in doubt until the final seconds.

"You saw all the layups we missed. We counted 10 for the game," said Kamehameha coach Darold Imanaka. "And normally we are a good free throw shooting team. We made 9 of the last 10 against Iolani."

For the game, Kamehameha shot only 32% (17 of 53) to Punahou's 47% (17 of 36) from the field, but dominated a pair of other statistics, turnovers and fouls. 

The Warriors had half as many turnovers (12 to 24).  "We have depth. We go 6-deep at guard. You could see they (Punahou) were getting tired near the end." said Imanaka.

The Warriors committed only 3 fouls in the second half (9 for the game) to Punahou's 11 (21 for the game). Kamehameha was shooting bonus free throws with 7:32 left in the game and had the luxury of being able to give fouls in the crucial final seconds.

"After Punahou called time out with 8.4 seconds, I told our team to commit fouls and waste time," explained Imanaka. It turned out to be not necessary.