Amani Hansberry is a force of nature.
The 6-foot-8 senior had 20 points, 11 rebounds and five assists as Mount St. Joseph (Md.) ran away with an 81-51 win over Leilehua on Friday night in the opening round of the ‘Iolani Prep Classic.
Austin Abrams added 13 points and Ace Valentine added 10. The Gaels (7-1) played solid man-to-man defense and were unselfish on offense.
“We haven’t played in about a week. We were a little sloppy at times. First night, we just wanted to come out and compete, play hard,” Gaels coach Pat Clatchey said. “I thought the other team, they played really hard. The kid, No. 1, is a really good player.”
That was Leilehua point guard Zelston Militante, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half. The Gaels discussed Militante’s effectiveness at getting into the lane and creating scoring opportunities.
“He can score, he can penetrate, he’s got good vision. We told the guys the second half we would double him a little bit, take the ball out of his hands,” Clatchey added.
Twain Wilson added 10 points for the Mules.
Hansberry, who is committed to Illinois, elected to dominate from the block on most possessions.
“He’s a very versatile player, very good at getting the ball off the boards, pushing the ball and finding people. He can score both inside and out,” Clatchey said.
There was nothing Leilehua could do about Hansberry aside from doubling and tripling him on the block.
“I thought Hansberry had very good footwork and a nice, soft touch on his shot for a guy his size,” Leilehua coach Chad Townsend said.
The Gaels were in fast break mode from the start, getting slam dunks from Tyonne Farrell and Valentine to open a 15-5 lead.
Hansberry was always active and finished the first half with 12 points and seven rebounds, often pushing the ball in transition off his boards.
Mount Saint Joseph led 41-25 at the break. Militante was a spark plug, breaking down his man for tough drives and buckets. He also hit a 3 as the Mules tried to stay within striking range.
Leilehua (6-4) could not get the margin within single digits after intermission.
The opening night of the tournament included the three of the top four teams in Hawaii: No. 2 Saint Louis, No. 3 Leilehua and No. 4 ‘Iolani.
Mount St. Joseph went 33-6 last season, winning the MIAA A Conference title and the Baltimore Catholic League tournament. They are currently ranked No. 1 in the Baltimore Sun Preseason Top 15 in Maryland.
“I’m very proud of our team’s effort. We wanted to rest our guys a little more for our game tomorrow,” Townsend said, referring to Leilehua’s OIA West opener against Mililani. “But our competitive side kicked in.”
Mount St. Joseph will meet Mount Vernon (N.Y.) on Monday in a 5 p.m. quarterfinal.
Mount Vernon (N.Y.) 73, Moanalua 39
Dylan Colon scored 15 points, and Elijah Morris and Tavien Tyler added 12 each as the Knights (1-0) pulled away in the third quarter to advance.
Trey Lanier led Moanalua (4-4) with eight points. Austin Oguma and Gavin Pommerenk chipped in six points apiece.
The Knights opened a 14-3 lead, but Na Menehune pulled within 19-16 in the second quarter. Pommerenk’s 3 kept Moanalua within 22-19, but Mount Vernon responded with an 14-3 run, deploying a 2-2-1 fullcourt press. The Knights missed four layups during the first half, but scrappy defense helped them open a 36-22 halftime lead.
Mount Vernon, the NYSPHSAA Class AA champion last season, then stifled Moanalua and went on a 21-5 run in the third quarter.
‘Iolani 54, Radford 43
Taniela Taliauli scored 12 points and Casey Lyons added 11 as the host Raiders (10-1) escaped with a tough win over the scrappy Rams.
Caden Williams, playing center and running the fast break like a point guard for Radford (2-5), finished with 20 points, including 6-for-6 at the free-throw line.
The Raiders lost center Kaimana Lau Kong to a right knee injury with 5:39 left in the first half. The game was tied at 13. Radford stayed close, getting within 23-20 after Brandon Edmunds followed his free-throw miss with a 5-foot bank shot.
Taliauli then splashed a 22-footer from the left wing to beat the halftime buzzer. The Raiders led 26-20 at the break.
The Rams ran the floor and got within 26-24 on a coast-to-coast bucket by Caden Williams. Kyle Koga’s wing 3 pushed the Raiders to a five-point lead. After a Radford turnover and a layup by Aidan Wong, ‘Iolani led 31-24.
Luke Tobin’s breakaway dunk brought Raider Nation to its feet, but Dawson Calhoun’s bucket cut the lead to 33-31.
With ‘Iolani up 41-38, Taliauli hit a corner 3 and a 2 to open the lead to eight with less than six minutes remaining. A Taliauli layup off a feed from Wong upped the lead to 52-40 with 1:24.
Montverde (Fla.) 92, Saint Louis 49
Derik Queen scored 17 points to lead the Eagles’ balanced attack. Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn added 16 points, and Asa Newell and Sean Stewart tallied 12 each.
Sophomore Pupu Sepulona led the Crusaders (10-1) with 27.
Montverde is ranked No. 1 in the MaxPreps national rankings and was in alpha mode all night, attacking the rim and running the break start to finish. The Eagles came out ready to entertainment starting during pregame warmups, with a flurry of windmill dunks that carried over into the first quarter.
Newell was especially wired, throwing down four dunks before halftime. Gibbs-Lawhorn, a 6-foot guard, was a crowd pleaser with multiple throwdowns on the break.
Saint Louis faced a lineup of four bigs that included Newell (6-9), Cooper Flagg (6-8) and Queen (6-8). Flagg sat most of the first half after picking up two early fouls, and Newell committed four of his own before intermission, but it didn’t change Montverde’s momentum.
Montverde is a member of the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference, which is comprised of the nation’s top high school programs. The Eagles are the three-time defending national champions. They have five of the nation’s Top 20 prospects: Stewart (Duke), Kwame Evans (Oregon), Newell, Queen and Flagg.
Their other Top 50 prospects: Chris Johnson (Kansas), Liam McNeeley, Bryce Heard. Gibbs-Lawhorn (Illinois), Marvel Allen (Georgetown) and Curtis Givens are in the Top 100.
