Punahou takes down Kahuku in home preseason tournament

Ethan Chung scored 18 points and Tanoa Scanlan added 17 in his return as No. 4 Punahou edged No. 2 Kahuku 54-51 at the Punahou Invitational on Saturday.

Punahou improved to 5-1 in nonconference play. Scanlan missed the first few weeks of preseason due to a back injury but showed no effects on a humid afternoon in Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

“I feel good. It’s a strained ligament in my back, but I’ll be fine, ” Scanlan said. “This is a good win. They’re obviously a good team. I feel good about getting the win, but we’ve got a lot of stuff we’ve got to clean up.”

The battle with Kahuku was close from the start. Kahuku got within 50-48 after a resounding slam dunk by Ronin Naihe.

Scanlan then delivered a pass to Nahua Lloyd for a key layup that gave the Buffanblu a 52-48 lead.

Naihe, who finished with 22 points, splashed a 3 from the right wing, cutting the lead to 52-51 with 15 seconds to go. With no team fouls, Kahuku had to give five. Punahou nearly turned the ball over on an errant inbounds pass in the paint, but it caromed off the shoulder of a Kahuku defender and out of bounds.

Scanlan swished two free throws with 8.1 seconds left for a three-point lead. Naihe launched a 30-foot 3 that would have tied the game and forced overtime, but missed at the buzzer.

Kahuku (3-2 ) entered the tournament unbeaten, but lost to Saint Louis and, now, Punahou, in close games.

“Our new guys are getting into our system better, ” Naihe said. “I think our team needs to get more connected. Right now, our chemistry is a little bit off. We’re going to work on that for the next few weeks. Our chemistry needs to get better for us to win.”

Kahuku travels to Nevada soon to play in Bishop Gorman’s tournament.

Punahou plays in the James Alegre Invitational, which begins Thursday. The Buffanblu meet Leilehua that day at 6 :45 p.m. With the 6-foot-7 Scanlan patrolling the paint, Punahou is at a different level. Scanlan’s scoring helps, but his court vision and passing skills are elite “He’s a very high-IQ kid. They were doubling him a lot, so he was finding the open man. That’s what you need to do. Passing is contagious. When we play together as a team, we’re really hard to beat. We’re far from where we really want to be. This is our first really quality game for us where we’re playing good basketball. Hopefully, we build on it.”

No. 1 Saint Louis 54, Kamehameha-Hawaii 39 The Warriors stayed within a single-digit margin until the final quarter. KS-Hawaii trailed 37-31 before the Crusaders went on a 15-6 run.

Earlier, KS-Hawaii beat No. 10 Moanalua, 57-53, in an exhibition game at Maryknoll’s gym. Kawohi Huihui led with 18 points.

Nichika Tsang led Na Menehune with 15 points.

No. 4 Kamehameha 88, Baldwin 70 In a Saturday morning matchup at Kekuhaupio Gymnasium, Shyne Salvador poured in 27 points, including 8-for-8 shooting at the free-throw line, as the Warriors outraced the Bears.

Jaeden Miyahana hustled for 20 points, mostly in the paint, and Justice Slade added 17 points, including five treys. Kamehameha led 41-31 at the half.

Dylan Kuia led Baldwin with 21 points. Brylan Nunes tallied 19 points and Evan Manarpaac chipped in 11. The Bears, coached by Cory Tesoro, opened their trip with a 63-60 loss at No. 3 Kailua on Friday. They also played at Le Jardin on Saturday afternoon before returning to Maui.