ILH Boys Basketball
No. 1 Maryknoll pulls away late from No. 2 Punahou to win ILH opener


  



Tue, Jan 3, 2023 @ Punahou


Final 1 2 3 4  
Maryknoll (10-5, 26-7) 10 11131246
Punahou (7-6, 21-9) 14 7 12 639
A. Uperesa-Thomas 11 pts  1 3pm  2/2 FTs
J. Yap 16 pts  4 3pm  2/2 FTs
A. Uperesa-Thomas 9 tot  1 off  8 def
J. Yap 5 tot  5 def
J. Lilio 2 ast

Justin Yap poured in 16 points to lead top-ranked Maryknoll past No. 2 Punahou, 46-39, in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I opener for both teams at Hemmeter Fieldhouse Tuesday.

Yap shot 4 of 8 (50 percent) from behind the arc and grabbed five rebounds. Hunter Marumoto was 5 of 6 from the charity stripe to finish with 10 points, and Zion Milare and Kaniala Woo each added seven to help the Spartans improve to 1-0.

"Our team just moved the ball really well, being patient, some of my shots were falling," Yap said. "It's good for our momentum and our mentality. We're going to try and keep it going forward."

Ayndra Uperesa-Thomas led the Buffanblu with 11 points and nine boards and James Taras chipped in nine off the bench but dropped to 0-1 in the ILH.

Punahou led 38-37 with 5:22 left in the fourth quarter after Kekai Burnett split a pair of free throws. Yap accounted for the next five points as he swished his free throws and caught a skip pass from Micah Kubo on the left wing and drained the triple with 3:06 on the clock to force a Buffanblu timeout.

"We warm up and prepare ourselves. The way we move the ball, it's a normal thing," Yap said.

"He's been doing that since his freshman year. He's a clutch shooter. Hopefully colleges are aware of how good of a shooter he is. I've been coaching for thirty something years and he's top five, easy," Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant said of Yap.

Kubo missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw and Tucker Lam drew a foul on a 3-point attempt, but hit 1 of 3 to trail, 42-39, but Punahou could not get any closer.

In the final 1 minute 22 seconds, Maryknoll pulled away for good shooting 4 of 8 (50 percent) from the free throw line and finished 12 of 21 (57.1 percent) for the game.

"We have to do better. I told them a minimum 70 percent and we weren't even close to that," Grant said.

Punahou led after the first quarter but Marykoll outscored them 11 to 7. Lam found Taras, who tied the game at 21 going into halftime.

Maryknoll uncharacteristically turned over the ball and committed eight of their team's 13 turnovers in the first half.

"I was a little worried about the press and we had eight turnovers so we work on that stuff all the time, but it's not the same with a scout team and playing their first team. Being able to see the speed on the floor and recognizing certain things. They were running quick traps and weren't allowing us to put the ball on the floor, they were coming and we had to make an adjustment," Grant said.

Yap scored in transition to give the Spartans a five-point lead, their largest of the game with 5:07 in the third quarter. Punahou tied the game at 29 and took the lead momentarily after Jon Yoshimoto's jumper in the corner. Yap answered with his third triple, but Uperesa-Thomas snatched the lead back with a pair of free throws. Milare hit a jumper as time ran out to give Maryknoll a 34-33 lead going into the fourth.

"We had a game plan and for the most part, the boys followed it. We worked on some mismatches to run the floor," Grant said.

Punahou shot 3 of 17 from the 3-point line and shot 14 of 40 (35 percent) from the field.

"For us, the big thing was communicating. For coach Kelly, if you don't play defense, you don't get on the court," Yap said.

"They're a better shooting team than that. If we give them open shots again, I'm pretty sure their percentage is going to be a lot better," Grant said.

Maryknoll finished 6 of 16 from 3-point range and shot 14 of 31 (45 percent) overall from the field.

The Spartans go on the road to Kamehameha-Kapalama (0-1) on Jan. 5 and at Iolani (1-0) on Jan. 7 to close out the week. The Buffanblu also go on the road to take on Saint Louis (1-0) and Mid-Pacific (0-1) on the same nights.

Both teams are scheduled to face each other on Saturday, Jan. 14 at Maryknoll's Clarence T. C. Ching Gymnasium at 3:30 p.m.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].




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