Four weeks of preseason came to a close Wednesday, but there's no time to rest for the Punahou Buffanblu and Kaiser Cougars.

The teams faced off for the Punahou Invitational title, with the host Buffanblu coming away with a 68-54 win, but it didn't take long for both coaches to turn their attention to the immediate future.

For second-ranked Punahou and coach Darren Matsuda, the win provides some nice momentum as it prepares for the rigorous Interscholastic League of Honolulu, arguably the state's toughest league top to bottom.

"It's been about three or four years since we've won this tournament, so it was a nice win, especially for this young group," said Matsuda, who started two freshmen Wednesday. "I think the expectations for this group were really low in the preseason, and it's just good. They play like a family and that's important and that's how we do well."

The Buffanblu are among the hottest teams across the state having won their last eight games since a 74-73 overtime loss to the same Kaiser team back on Dec. 12.

"After that game we just came more together as a team," said Punahou junior guard Chris Kobayashi, who hit five 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 18 points against the Cougars Wednesday night. "We knew we had to do it together. We just wanted to have fun out there, but we all did it together and it was a good team win."

Kobayashi, a third-year varsity member, downplayed the result of the game.

"It wasn't a big deal," he said. "We didn't make it our main priority, but it was a good win for us. We just wanted to play as hard as possible and try to get revenge from the first time they played uss"

Matsuda had much of the same to say afterward.

"I think we've got to keep it in perspective," Matsuda said. "In the ILH season, everybody can beat anybody and for us, it's approaching every game one game at a time and every play, one play at a time and trying to do what we do. I don't think anybody is going to go undefeated this year in the ILH; It's crazy this year."

Kaiser coach Branden Kawazoe had lots of praise for the Buffanblu, who saw all five of their freshman see significant minutes Wednesday.

"First of all, this Punahou team is talented," Kawazoe said. "They're as talented of a young group as I've seen in the state and they're fearless and they're basketball IQ is really high and they're going to be tough in the ILH."

The Cougars, meanwhile, suffered their second loss in nine days and saw a four-game win streak snapped.

"The preseason for us was an absolute grind. We played ILH teams, we played tough competition for four weeks now and it would have been nice to get this one, but hats off to Punahou," Kawazoe said. "They got it done and now it's time for us to get back to the drawing board and kind of get some rest and get ready for our regular season because."

Kawazoe's team is a senior-heavy unit. All but two of his 14 players are seniors.

"We've got to continue to get better, we've got to take care of the little things — the rebounds, taking care of the ball, getting better shots — and if we do that we'll be OK," said Kawazoe, who led the Cougars to a Division II state title last season.

Kaiser (13-3) plays at Kalani to open the Oahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division season Saturday.

Punahou (15-1) visits eighth-ranked Mid-Pacific next Wednesday.