Thu, Feb 26, 2015 @ Moanalua

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Kalaheo

64

Punahou

48

Final	1	2	3	4
Kalaheo (13-1, 31-3)	17	15	10	22	64
Punahou (11-1, 24-5)	5	17	10	16	48

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

Dayson Watanabe 23 pts  4 3pm  3/9 FTs

Kaleb Gilmore 25 pts  1 3pm  16/17 FTs

Dayson Watanabe 5 tot  2 off  3 def

Kupaa Harrison 9 tot  2 off  7 def

Randon Oda 2 ast

Kupaa Harrison 2 ast

Kalaheo's Kaleb Gilmore takes the ball to basket against Punahou. Evan Asato | SL

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Kalaheo's Kaleb Gilmore takes the ball to basket against Punahou. Evan Asato | SL

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SALT LAKE — An early run was all Kalaheo needed to dethrone top-seeded Punahou Thursday night.

Kaleb Gilmore scored a game-high 25 points, Kekai Smith chipped in 14 and Kupaa Harrison finished one rebound short of a double-double to lead third-ranked Kalaheo to a commanding 64-48 win over No. 1 Punahou in a quarterfinal-round game of the New City Nissan/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Boys Basketball State Championships.

A packed house of about 600 fans at the Moanalua High School gymnasium witnessed the Mustangs (15-1) jump out to a 12-0 start they did not relinquish. They led the Buffanblu (11-2) throughout the game and by as many as 19 in the closing seconds to advance to Friday's semifinal round at the Stan Sheriff Center. They will play Kahuku in the 7 p.m. semi, which will follow Iolani and Campbell at 5 p.m.

"It feels good, but we're trying to take one game at a time," said Gilmore, who made 16 of his 17 free-throw attempts. "We're focusing on Kahuku tomorrow and then if we get past Kahuku, we'll focus on the next team."

Gilmore was one of three Kalaheo players who dealt with foul trouble. He picked up two quick fouls in the first three minutes and 12 seconds of the first quarter and another early in the second. He was whistled for his fourth foul midway through the third quarter on a charge and sat for much of the second half.

"It was tough for me, but I know my team got my back," said Gilmore, who played just 19 minutes. "Even if I'm not in the game I know they can step up, do what they've got to do to get the win and that's what they did."

In Gilmore's absence, Smith picked up the slack. The junior guard scored a season-high in points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field.

"He finished and scored points and they were big points," Mustangs' coach Alika Smith said of his nephew. "He hits a 3 in the first half to get them going and then he hit some layups and some free throws, so it's just one of those things where the next guy stepped up and we talked about that and they finally did it and that was the result of it."

Kalaheo got out to a 7-0 lead by the 4:07 mark of the first quarter, forcing a Punahou timeout. Kekai Smith's 3-pointer from the left corner, followed by Harrison's fast break layup extended the lead to 12-0.

The Buffanblu finally got on the board with 2:20 left in the quarter on a JB Kam  jumper. However, Gilmore drained a pull-up 3 in the closing seconds of the opening quarter and sank three free throws on the Mustangs' first second-quarter possession to make the score, 20-5.

Punahou went on a 9-0 run midway through the second to cut it to 22-18, but Kalaheo closed out the half on an 8-3 run, to take a 32-22 lead into the locker room.

"As we learned from the past, a 12-0 (run) is nothing when it comes in the beginning of the game," Alika Smith said. "We knew they were a great team, they came back and cut it to four with Kaleb in foul trouble, but our young guys stepped up. It was a total team effort."

In the fourth quarter, Kam converted a three-point play to pull Punahou within nine at 44-35, but Kalaheo answered with a 13-3 run and pulled away.

"You've got to play an 'A' game to beat those guys," Buffanblu coach Darren Matsuda said of Kalaheo. "They're probably one of the top three, top two — if not the top — team in the state and they showed it today. We pretty much laid an egg today and that's the result."

Punahou shot a respectable 38.6 percent (17 of 44) from the field, but Kalaheo shot the ball at a 50-percent clip (15 of 30) and went to the free-throw line for 39 attempts to just 17 for Punahou.

"We did what we wanted to do in stretches, but most of the game we just weren't ourselves today," said Matsuda, whose team had a bye in Wednesday's opening round. "Maybe because it was a big stage, state game and it's tough for that to be the first game and for us to play that way, but we just weren't ourselves today."

Dayson Watanabe led the Buffanblu with 23 points, including four 3-pointers. Three players — Kanawai Noa, Randon Oda and Micah Maa — fouled out and combined for just eight points between them.

NOTE: Thursday marked the first time in the history of the state tournament that all four seeded teams lost in the quarterfinal round. In addition to top-seeded Punahou's 64-48 loss to Kalaheo, Campbell ousted second-seeded Farrington 51-45, Iolani topped third-seeded Lahainaluna 44-34, and Kahuku overwhelmed fourth-seeded Konawaena 67-45.