Kamehameha's Kordel Ng (3) goes up for layup as Maryknoll's Sage Tolentino contests the attempt. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Sat, Jan 25, 2020 @ Maryknoll

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Kamehameha

49

Maryknoll

41

Final	1	2	3	4
Kamehameha (13-0, 28-6)	21	7	5	16	49
Maryknoll (11-3, 31-4)	5	13	12	11	41

L. Soares 14 pts  2/5 FTs

E. Kapihe 10 pts  2 3pm  2/2 FTs

MAKIKI—Top-ranked Kamehameha came out firing in the first quarter and closed out second-ranked Maryknoll from the free throw line in the fourth to win a pivotal Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I contest, 49-41, at Clarence T. C. Ching Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

EJ Kapihe led a balanced scoring effort for the Warriors with 10 points, Paliku Kamaka with nine off the bench, Christmas Togiai added eight and Kordel Ng with seven as Kamehameha improves to 8-0 in the ILH.

The Spartans (7-2) saw their five game winning streak come to an end since their 46-43 loss at Kekuhaupio Gymnasium on Jan. 7.

Kamehameha jumped out to an early 9-0 lead off three 3-pointers, two from Ng. Logan Dias got Maryknoll's first points on a 3-point play but the Warriors pushed it to a 15 point lead with a 9-0 run and then made it 21-5 after Braden Defries hit a 3 from the right wing to beat the buzzer.

"I was expecting the rest of the team to hit shots because last night they hit nothing. It was about percentages and they were zero percent so I knew they would come out hot today," Ng said referencing their 49-43 win over Punahou less than 24 hours ago.

"We came out and trusted each other and passed it to the open guy. Our shooters showed up tonight and knocked down their shots. We expect them to and we have confidence in all of our shooters to knock it down when their open," Kamehameha coach Larry Park said.

"We needed to make sure we were guarding guys. Granted Kordel hit two shots from like 26 feet away from the basket, we still need to make sure to get a hand in his face. We had to make sure to have everyone accounted for," Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant said.

Sage Tolentino willed the Spartans back with nine points of his own in the second quarter and cut the deficit down to 10 after he converted the alley oop from Niko Robben. Maryknoll outscored Kamehameha in the quarter, 13 to 7.

"That's the staple of our team getting the ball into Sage and Liko. It's difficult for Niko get shots on the perimeter when you have Kordel guarding him, who's lightning-quick. We tried to keep Niko underneath the basket to try and get him looks underneath there," Grant said.

Kamehameha shot 7 for 10 from the perimeter in the first half and hit nine total for the game. Kapihe, Ng, and Defries each hit two.

"That's the guys we got and we have confidence they will knock down shots and we see it in practice," Park said.

Maryknoll trailed by five for most of the third quarter as Soares was able to get inside the paint as he converted an assist from Tolentino and beat the buzzer on a feed from Parker Grant as the Spartans trailed by three, 33-30 heading into the fourth.

Since giving up 21 to the Warriors in the first quarter, the Spartans held Kamehameha to single digits in the second (7) and third (5) quarters.

"They're a great defensive team and have done it the past two years. They have good size and fundamentally sound defensively," Park said.

Soares managed to get the Spartans within one early in the fourth, but that was short-lived as Kapihe answered with a 3-pointer. Bailey Lee put the Warriors up four but Soares, who finished with a game-high 14 points added a bucket before Noah Furtado hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to give Maryknoll their first lead of the game, 39-38.

"Our team is good because we don't get rattled. We knew they were going to make a run and we knew we had to come back stronger," Ng said.

Ng drew a foul on Tolentino, but split the free throws to tie the game at 39. Kamaka added a jumper and Togiai got four points from the free throw line to make it, 45-39 with under a minute. Kahaweo McGee was fouled on a 3-point attempt but went 2 for 3. Kamaka and Kapihe were perfect from the charity stripe to close out the game.

"I give my team credit for working themselves back into the game," Grant said.

"We knew we had returnees and we talked about being the more mature team. No matter the situation: the crowd noise, up four, down a bunch, we have to keep making plays and playing our style of basketball. They showed it tonight. Maryknoll is a great team and they came back and took the lead and we had to make sure we closed it out in the end," Park said.

The Warriors were 8 for 9 in that late fourth quarter stretch and shot 10 for 17 from the free throw line for the game.

"If you want to be a championship team, that's what you have to do and that's making free throws in the end," Grant said.

Kamehameha has four games in six days to close out the ILH regular season starting with a home game against Mid-Pacific on Jan. 27.

Maryknoll has a rugged stretch of their own with three games in four days with Saint Louis on Jan. 29 before back-to-back home games against Damien and Punahou in that order on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.