Int. Boys Best Puns in Hoops
Int. Black Boys' Basketball In Big 48-46 Win
by Al Linsky
The last time I saw these two teams play, also at Punahou, the Golds won by a pretty good margin, 46-32. I was looking for a better showing by the Blacks this time, but I figured it would be tough to come away with a victory.
So, what happens? The Blacks made it look easy, at least they did in the first half. They went out to a quick 12-5 lead at the end of the first quarter, and stretched it to 21-13 by the half.
Two negative things happened to Punahou in that first half that contributed to the lead, the first being ice cold shooting by the Puns. The second was that it seemed like every call was going against them. Add that to inspired play by the Raiders and the Blacks were rolling.
I didn't think those two factors would continue, though, and they didn't. Nick (their star guard) finally started hitting some threes and doing some real damage. And, the calls now seemed to all go against the Raiders.
The result was a slim 33-30 lead by 6:57 of the fourth quarter. The Raiders maintained that slim lead until :56 when the Puns took their first lead of the game.
The last minute was crazy and seemed endless as each team traded fouls. The key blow came with the Raiders losing by one with 36 seconds left to go, when Tahi Caldwell hit a clutch 3 pointer to make it 46-44, Raiders. Each team scored one more basket to make it 48-46 and a super win for the Blacks.
To see more photos, please visit iolani-events.org.
