Taylor Crabb hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:11 left and Henry Cassiday sank a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to rally visiting Punahou to a 48-45 win over Kamehameha in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu opener for both teams at Kekuhaupi'o Gymnasium last night.

DeForest Buckner scored 13 points and Crabb added 10 to lead the Buffanblu (1-0). The defending Division I state champion Warriors were led by Shane Matayoshi's 13 points.

"It's a good win for our team," Punahou coach Alika Smith said. "For our guys to come in here and scratch, fight and claw, I think that's just a tribute to how hard they've been working so far, but this just one step of many to come."

The teams went back-and-forth for much of the night as the game saw eight ties and nine lead changes.

Kamehameha broke a 43-all tie after Micah Christenson made an open 17-footer with 1:40 left, but Crabb answered for Punahou with his second 3-pointer of the game to make it 46-45.

"He's stepped up for us the whole year," Smith said of Crabb. "We looked to him at the end of the game and he came through for us."

The Warriors called timeout twice on their next possession and got the ball deep in the post off an inbounds pass, but could not make the basket and the Buffanblu came down with the rebound. Kamehameha was forced to foul, but Cassiday made both ends of the one-and-one bonus with 8.8 seconds left to extend his team's lead to 48-45.

"I was just thinking about my team," Cassiday said. "I actually enjoy being in those situations though, where it's what I can control."

Kamehameha got off a last-second shot from about 20 feet, but the 3-pointer bounced off the rim as time expired.

"They're a really good team," Warriors' coach Jessie Nakanishi said. "They hustled and they rebound extremely well and that was a big difference."

Punahou used a 14-2 run in the first quarter to take its largest lead of the game at 22-10 with 2:37 left in the half, but Kamehameha closed out the second quarter on a 9-0 run to make it 22-19 at the half.

The Warriors took their first lead since 2-0 after Christenson made a 3-pointer at the 3:28 mark in the third quarter. Kamehameha took a 37-34 lead into the fourth quarter after Branden Orpillia banked a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the left wing to end the third quarter.

Christenson added 10 points for Kamehameha.

It was the second meeting between the teams this season. Kamehameha beat Punahou, 58-55, in the final of the James Alegre Invitational last month.

PUNAHOU (1-0) 14 8 12 14—48

KAMEHAMEHA (0-1) 6 13 18 8 —45

PUNAHOU — Taylor Crabb 10, Henry Cassiday 4, Sean McFadden 4, Noah Hammond 0, James Powset 4, Malik Johnson 6, Matthew Feldman 6, James Duncan 1, Kyle Tu'umalo 0, DeForest Buckner 13. Totals 19 6-14 48.

KAMEHAMEHA — Shane Matayoshi 13, Frank Ho 5, Micah Christenson 10, Branden Orpillia 3, Brent Auyong 0, Chaz Bajet 5, Devin Kuhns 4, Taylor Taliulu 0, Charlton Tang 2, Dyrbe Enos 3. Totals 17 6-11 45.

3-point field goals—Punahou: 4 (Crabb 2, Feldman 2). Kamehameha: 5 (Christenson 2, Matayoshi, Bajet, Orpillia).