Ethan Chung pumped in 18 points to lead a balanced attack as ILH runner-up Punahou ousted third-seeded Kamehameha-Hawaii, 67-53, in the HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships on Wednesday night at Moanalua High School.
Zion White finished with 13 points and nine rebounds, but the high-flying, 6-foot-5 sophomore was in foul trouble and sat long stretches of the second and third quarters. Tate Takamiya added 11 points and Houston Hosoda stepped up with nine points on 3-for-5 marksmanship from 3-point range.
“We’re happy to move on. When you get in the state tournament, the winner moves on and you try to go undefeated,” Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said.
Punahou (26-8 overall) plays University today at McKinley Student Council Gymnasium.
BIIF champion Kamehameha-Hawaii (16-4 overall) turned a 15-point deficit into a four-point difference in the first half. The Warriors trailed by 13 in the third quarter before cutting the margin to five, but never got over the hump.
“They went on a huge run, but we have phenomenal bench players. They stepped up. Houston hit two big threes. Brother here (Chung) hit a couple threes,” said White, who shot 5-for-5 from the field and 6-for-13 the. charity stripe.
“Zion’s a big part of our team. We knew we had to trust each other and keep going after he got the third foul. Next man up,” said Chung, who shot 3-for-8 from the arc. “They’re kind of like Mid-Pac. They shoot a lot of threes.”
Kiai Yasso had a team-high 18 points for Kamehameha. Kawohi Huihui had 17 points on 7-for-16 field-goal shooting, and Kaikuakea Kahana-Rowe chipped in eight points. KS-Hawaii meets Kailua in consolation action Thursday.
“They’re an outstanding 3-point shooting team. They’re averaging nine makes a game. We made an emphasis to try and jump on them as early as we could,” Matsuda said. “Huihui is tough. He gets in the paint. He killed us in that (second) quarter. We made some adjustments at halftime. We weren’t able to press. We didn’t want to get in foul trouble. We had to play a little off (the ball).
Though White managed not to foul out, guards Dane Kellner and Takamiya eventually did in the fourth quarter.
Playing without leading scorer Tanoa Scanlan due to a season-ending hand injury suffered during the ILH season, Punahou was almost flawless in the first quarter. The Buffanblu shot 7-for-9 from the field, including 4-for-5 from the 3-point line, and committed only one turnover.
Kamehameha-Hawaii struggled against Punahou’s man-to-man defense after Huihui picked up his second foul. Takamiya, previously a key reserve, started and led Punahou with seven points as his team opened a 25-10 late in the first quarter.
White picked his third foul with 6:19 left in the second quarter. Down 28-15, the Warriors attacked the paint against Punahou’s guard-heavy lineup. Huihui scored eight points and after Clay Ching fed him for a layup, they were down 31-27 with 1:43 to go in the first half.
Matsuda called time out, settled his team down, and the Buffanblu got a straightaway 3 from Hosoda and a feed from Kellner to Takamiya for a layup before the buzzer. Punahou led at intermission, 38-27.
Punahou opened the second half with Chung hitting three treys and extended the lead to 48-35. However, White picked an offensive foul for his fourth personal of the game and Kamehameha-Hawaii regained momentum.
Yasso connected on back-to-back NBA-range treys, and after Clay Ching hustled for a putback on a Yasso miss, KS-Hawaii was within 50-45 with 29 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Warriors got no closer the rest of the way. White scored on a fast break layup and posted up for a bucket to open the lead to 59-48 with 4:22 remaining.
Opportunities were there, but the Warriors were mostly ice-cold from the arc. Yasso’s normally accurate deep-range jumper was off, 2-for-13, though he was 9-for-10 at the foul line. As a team, KS-Hawaii shot 4-for-26 from the arc.
