Box Score HONOLULU, HI- The final contest of 2012 for Chaminade Athletics proved to be a thrilling one, as the Swords defeated the Hawks of Holy Names 77-68 in a back and forth contest in McCabe Gym.
HNU led early 14-7 with just over 13 minutes remaining in the opening half of action. A quick 7-0 run by CUH tied the contest at 14-14 with 12:10 left and foreshadowed what was to come. The run featured a great assist from point guard
Dianna Zane (Honolulu, HI/Roosevelt) as senior
Nikki Tauau (Oxnard, CA/Pacifica) drained a three-pointer from the right wing. The first half saw more back and forth action as the contest remained tied at 20-20 with 8:35 left in the first twenty minutes of action. Chaminade looked to take over from there, leading 26-22 after a made free throw from senior forward
Rhani Kaneaiakala (Waimanalo, HI / Kamehameha-Kapalama).
CUH kept it going to close the first half as junior
Glacen Florita (Ewa Beach, HI/Pearl City) banked in a jumper at the buzzer and Chaminade led the Hawks 37-27 at the break. The Swords shot 40% from the floor and held HNU to 27% shooting in the opening twenty minutes. Chaminade was out-rebounded in the first half, but by a small margin, 26-30. Florita led CUH in scoring in the half with 11 points.
A Florita basket early in the second half gave Chaminade a 43-33 lead with 16:33 left in the contest and it appeared the Swords were headed towards a convincing win. The Hawks had other ideas, responding in a big way following the CUH score, going on an 18-1 run over the next three minutes to lead 51-44 over the Swords. Chaminade refused to go away, answering with a 7-0 run of their own to tie the contest at 51-51, forcing a Holy Names timeout.
Trailing 63-56 with 6:19 left, Chaminade applied pressure to the HNU offense and the decision by Coach Keanini paid huge dividends, as the Swords went on a 12-0 run and led 69-63 with 3:24 left. Despite Holy Names efforts in the closing minutes, CUH held on down the stretch and won the contest by a score of 77-68.
The Swords were out-rebounded by the Hawks, but only by one, 49 rebounds to 50 for HNU.
Rhani Kaneaiakala had 16 points and 9 rebounds for Chaminade. Junior
Glacen Florita added 16 points on 7-11 shooting. In total, five Swords scored in double figures as
Shana Kawakami (Honolulu, HI/Roosevelt) added 15 points and
Dianna Zane contributed 11 points for CUH.
Nikki Tauau also scored in double figures with 10 points and was strong on the glass adding 9 rebounds.
HNU was led by Britney Protestio with 21 points in the matinee contest.
With the win, Chaminade improves to 1-5, 1-2 PWC. Holy Names moves to 4-5, 1-2 PWC on the year. The Swords take on the Hawks again tomorrow in a non-conference affair in McCabe Gym. Tip is set for 2:00 PM HT.
