Sat, Dec 12, 2015 @ Moanalua

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Punahou

73

Kaiser

74

F/OT	1	2	3	4	OT
Punahou (9-6, 27-9)	16	16	18	15	8	73
Kaiser (12-2, 28-7)	13	13	17	22	9	74

Chance Kalaugher 25 pts  1 3pm  10/15 FTs

Zayne Chong 17 pts  3 3pm  4/4 FTs

Kaiser's Chance Kalaugher led all scorers with 25 points and accounted for seven of the Cougars' nine overtime points in the victory. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Kaiser's Chance Kalaugher led all scorers with 25 points and accounted for seven of the Cougars' nine overtime points in the victory. Peter Caldwell | SL

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SALT LAKE – Chance Kalaugher's putback at the buzzer in overtime lifted Kaiser over Punahou, 74-73, in a thrilling finish Saturday at the OIA-ILH Challenge at Moanalua High.

Kalaugher, who led all scorers with 25 points, accounted for seven of the Cougars' nine overtime points in a game featuring teams that entered with perfect records. Kaiser improved to 7-0 while Punahou fell to 6-1 in the preseason.

"It's huge," Kalaugher said of the win. "Punahou is ILH. It's just huge for our whole program."

Although it was a heart breaker for the Buffanblu, the competitiveness Kaiser offered will only help them for the Interscholastic League of Honolulu play.

"Win or lose, these are the games we want in the preseason," Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said. "That's a really good team. That's a veteran-laden team. Between (Kaiser) and Iolani, that's the top two teams in the state. I'm glad the way our kids competed. We're real young and they need these games to hopefully do that during the year."

Kaiser tied the game at 65 with 1.4 seconds when Kalaugher made the second of two free throws. After a timeout by Punahou, Kalaugher intercepted a three-quarters inbounds pass by Kaulana Makaula to send the game into OT.

The teams traded free throws during the first three minutes of OT, Kaiser making 5 of 6 and Punahou making 3 of 4, as the Cougars took a 70-68 lead. The Cougars increased their lead with 1:07 on Keoua Mahiko's dribble drive, but Cole Arceneaux's 3-pointer with 50 seconds pulled Punahou to within 72-71.

Punahou's Chris Kobayashi and Kaiser's Nic Tom were battling for a loose ball, but Kobayashi was called for a foul. Tom, though, missed both double-bonus free throws with 19 seconds left. The clutch Arceneaux gave Punahou a 73-72 lead with 13 seconds left.

The Cougars worked the ball down court before Mahiko, who had 24 points, took a shot with less than two seconds, but missed, only to have the 6-foot-5 Kalaugher tip in the ball just before the buzzer.

"I saw Keona (Mahiko) take the shot, had a feeling it was going to go in, but I knew I had to crash the boards," Kalaugher said. "They were out-rebounding us the whole game, so crashing is important and that's what I did."

"Chance is going to get his stuff, he's a great player,"Matsuda said. "Between him and Hugh (Hogland of Iolani), they're probably the two best players in the state. We got a good effort of getting our primary and secondary help there. We were a little late, but that's something we're going to improve on. That's what you have to do. You have to play good team defense against a player like that."

Kalaugher was used his 6-foot-5, 225-pound frame to drive his way to the hoop and draw fouls. He was 9 of 15 from the free-throw line.

"I'm just proud of the way he's maturing as a person," Kaiser coach Branden Kawazoe said of Kalaugher. "It has translated on the basketball court. He's able to keep his composure and deal with adversity, so I'm real proud of him."

Zayne Chong paced Punahou with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. Arceneaux and Hunter Hosoda each had 11 points.