Punahou guard Jared Lum goes up for a layup against Mid-Pacific. Steve Erler | SL

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Punahou guard Jared Lum goes up for a layup against Mid-Pacific. Steve Erler | SL

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Aided by a hot shooting night from the 3-point line, No. 9 Punahou trounced No. 5 Mid-Pacific, 77-41, in second round of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu regular season at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

The ninth-ranked Buffanblu (2-4) snapped a three-game losing streak, while the Owls (2-4) dropped their fourth-straight game. MPI won the first meeting, 56-54 on Jan. 6.

Punahou took a 14-9 lead after the first quarter and went on a 10-3 run after back-to-back 3's from Cole Mausolf and Tamatoa Falatea. Mausolf continued his hot shooting and drained two more 3's.

The Buffanblu went 6 of 7 from the 3-point line in the first half and finished 11 of 17 (64.7 percent) for the game. Mausolf came off the bench with the hot hand and finished 6 of 6 for a game-high 18 points.

"They shot the ball well tonight, we didn't come ready to play. They got to us early and from there it was all downhill," said MPI coach Ryan Hirata.

"The last few games we shot under 30 percent, the basket was the size of a pin hole. We missed everything. It seemed like the basketball gods owed us one," said Punahou coach Darren Matsuda.

On the contrary, the rim wasn't very kind to the visiting Owls as they shot 16 of 36 (44.4 percent) from the free throw line for the game and 1 of 13 from the 3-point line.

"You have to make free throws and that's the difference. They made them we didn't. They could foul us every time if they wanted and sometimes we couldn't come away with points," said Hirata.

MPI went cold from the field and Zion Shepherd made the team's field goals in the second quarter—the first one was a 3-point play at the 1:55 mark. The Owls shot 8 of 14 from the charity stripe for the quarter. Jared Lum had a putback at the buzzer to give Punahou a 36-21 lead at halftime.

"We didn't handle the pressure very well and we settled for bad shots and attack the basket. If you do that against Punahou and they're hitting shots, you're in trouble," said Hirata.

Shepherd tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead MPI and Justin Daise added 10 points and seven rebounds. He scored 10 in the second quarter.

Punahou continued the onslaught from the 3-point line and outscored MPI, 41-20 in the second half. Coach Matsuda platooned all his players throughout the game.

"The kids wanted to do it together and that's why we want to play everyone. These guys are a true team and they ask me to play everyone," said Matsuda.

Punahou will host Iolani on Jan. 27 while MPI will host Saint Louis on the same night.