Kalani High School – Thanksgiving break couldn’t come sooner for Kalani
After a heartbreaking loss to the Leilehua Mules in the James Alegre Radford Tournament, the Buff’N’Blue bounced back with a statement win vs the Falcons at Kalani. Ethan Chung (‘26) led all scorers with 19 points and Tanoa Scanlan (‘27) was the second leading scorer with 16 points in limited minutes against the Falcons. Chung’s high-percentage shooting and Scanlan’s domination in the paint overwhelmed the Kalani defense. On the other hand, Punahou held the Falcons to a season-low 29 points. Reflecting after the loss to the Mules, Chung said, “It was a very disappointing loss and we knew we had to bounce back. We focused on locking up on defense which made it easier for our offense to flow and allowed my teammates to give me great looks to score.”
Tate Takamiya (‘25) also provided a key spark off the bench, notching 16 points in the contest. After being held to a measly 15% from three and 35% from the line, Punahou’s offense was the talk of the night as they shot an efficient 52% from the field and 36% from three.
However, the night’s highlight was Zion White (‘27) posterizing a Kalani player standing right underneath the rim. White, a star athlete on the football field, has also been a key contributor on both ends of the basketball floor. “Zion provides the spark we need, whether it’s grabbing rebounds or pinning layups off the backboard,” said fellow teammate Houston Hosoda (‘25).
Punahou is now 3-1 on the season in Preseason play. With impressive wins against King Kekaulike and Millilani, where the Buff’N’Blue had to overcome a 10-point deficit after halftime, Punahou looks to ride the momentum as they face KS-Hawaii in the Kailua tournament on Thursday, December 5th. The last time KS-Hawaii and Punahou played each other was in the State Tournament last year, with the Buff’N’Blue securing a 69-57 win.