Kalaheo claims the Punahou Invitational crown with a late outback at the buzzer by Alec MacLeod. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Tue, Dec 30, 2014 @ Punahou

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Kalaheo

41

Punahou

40

Final	1	2	3	4
Kalaheo (13-1, 31-3)	12	6	13	10	41
Punahou (11-1, 24-5)	8	6	13	13	40

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

D. Watanabe 12 pts  2 3pm

K. Gilmore 13 pts

A. Troske 9 tot  3 off  6 def

K. Smith 7 tot  2 off  5 def

D. Watanabe 2 ast

K. Harrison 2 ast

Alec MacLeod scored just four points Tuesday night, but his last basket came at a most opportune time.

MacLeod's putback with one second remaining lifted Kalaheo to a 41-40 win over Punahou in the title game of the Punahou Boys Basketball Invitational at the Buffanblu's Christopher B. Hemmeter Fieldhouse Tuesday night.

The senior reserve guard gathered the rebound off teammate Kaleb Gilmore's miss in the closing seconds and got off his game-winning shot with a single tick left on the clock.

"We knew we were going to get the ball to either Kupaa (Harrison) or Kaleb and coach told me to just get down the floor as fast as I could and so I hustled down and I was in the right place at the right time," MacLeod said. "It felt really good."

Kalaheo coach Alika Smith took his final timeout after Punahou's JB Kam hit a pair of free throws to put the host Buffanblu ahead, 40-39, with eight seconds to play.

"In the huddle we told him to just, 'get your butt down there. Get your butt down there and if sometimes comes off that's you,' and that was definitely him," Smith said of MacLeod. "That's one thing he does very well is get to those offensive boards."

Punahou had one final possession, but Micah Maa's inbounds pass was intercepted by Gilmore to seal it for Kalaheo.

"We knew we were going to have a great game here today with two great teams," said Smith, whose team entered the game ranked fourth in the ScoringLive/OC16 Boys Basketball Power Rankings. "It's a situation that our kids were in, that hopefully is not foreign to them when the time comes down the stretch, but it was a total team effort. We did some things out of characteristic to give them wide-open 3's at the end, but our kids fought through."

Kalaheo held a 37-33 lead with 1:55 remaining after Harrison's steal and ensuing coast-to-coast layup. However, Jordan Tanuvasa's banker cut it to a two-point game.

Gilmore knocked down a couple of free throws on the other end of the court of the Kalaheo, but Dayson Watanabe drained a 3-pointer from the right wing — which came off a steal by Kanawai Noa — on Punahou's ensuing possession to cut Kalaheo's lead to one before Kam's free throws gave the Buffanblu its final lead.

Kam, Punahou's leading scorer, was held to just one field goal and seven points.

"We're a team so if JB isn't playing great, someone else has to step up and we've got to use each other," Buffanblu coach Darren Matsuda said. "We've got to trust our offense and trust each other. It just can't be one person, it has to be everybody. We're a good enough defensive team that even if someone is off, we'll be in the game, and I think our team did a really good job defensively playing as a team and that kept us in the game."

Matsuda credited Kalaheo for its defensive pressure.

"They're a very good defensive team," Matsuda said. "I thought that from the whole week last week, that they're one of the best defensive teams in the state. Those guys and Iolani and I think we are, too, so I knew that it was going to be a challenge."

Kalaheo led at halftime, 18-14.

Gilmore scored nine of his game-high 13 points in the first half and was 7 of 8 from the free-throw line. Zach Marrotte scored all 10 of his points in the third quarter, while Harrison chipped in with six points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

"A lot of people watching the game may not know, but he held probably the state's best shooter in Kam in check from the 3-point line. He did a great job and what we get from him offensively on both sides of the floor is just unbelievable."

Kekai Smith grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for the Mustangs, who open the Oahu Interscholastic Association regular season at Kaimuki Saturday.

"It's a great way to end the preseason, because Punahou is the No. 1 team in the state, and we feel like we're playing our best basketball now," MacLeod said. "We're finally 100 percent healthy and it's definitely good going into the regular season to have this win."

Watanabe led the top-ranked Buffablu with 12 points and Alex Troske added eight points and nine rebounds.

Punahou's next game is its Interscholastic League of Honolulu opener against Kamehameha on Jan. 7.