As the competition got tougher, so did Kameron Steinhoff's game.

Steinhoff averaged 21.8 points in helping the Punahou boys basketball team finish second at the St. Francis Merv Lopes Holiday Classic at King Armory.

Steinhoff scored 27 points, but the Buffanblu couldn't hold off Our Lady of Good Counsel (Md.) in Saturday's title game. Our Lady, Maryland's third-ranked team, won 66-60 and Steinhoff went up against NCAA Division I prospects in the tournament.

Steinhoff , a 6-foot-4 senior, was named to the all-tournament first team.

"The level of competition, his level of play kept rising to the point where he was shooting the 3, taking guys to the basket and that was really nice," Punahou coach Dan Hale said.

"It's nice for Hawai'i guys to do that. The knock sometimes is that it's not a Mainland or Division I guy he's going after. He proved he can do it with these guys. That shows the level of play in Hawai'i. We may not have 7-footers, but there's certainly a good level of play here.

Steinhoff had 22 points in the Buffanblu's 70-63 win over Hanford (Calif.) in the tournament opener. Punahou then beat Mililani, 71-52, with Steinhoff scoring 24. Steinhoff had 14 points in Friday's 60-53 semifinal upset over Bishop Gorman, Nevada's top-ranked team.

"He took seven charges in this tournament, so he's finding ways to contribute," Hale said. "He's a really solid player out there. He just went at them and we needed that, (to) take it to them and he did a good job at that."

But Steinhoff wasn't alone. Manti Te'o, a 6-2 junior, was solid in the post for the Buffanblu, often going up against taller players. Throughout the preseason, many players have contributed since there isn't much of a drop off between starters and reserves.

"We're starting to jell as a team and when you can do that, it's a big advantage," Hale said. "When you go against a team that's still in that process, then you have a chance to hang with teams that have this Division I guy or that Division I guy."

Reach Stanley Lee at sktlee@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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