The Punahou School boys basketball team held the lead for about 17 seconds just before halftime of last night's game against Palm Beach Lakes (West Palm Beach, Fla.).

But just like that, the Rams snatched it back and never trailed again en route to a 52-40 victory in the first round of the 22nd Annual Iolani Prep Classic.

Palm Beach Lakes (7-2) will play the winner of last night's late game between Leilehua and Mount Vernon (N.Y.) in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Punahou will play the loser of that late game in the consolation bracket.

Mount Vernon is No. 14 in USA Today's latest Super 25 rankings. Palm Beach Lakes is unranked, but has been one of the top programs in South Florida the past several years.

After a slow start last night, Punahou (6-2) kept it close and took a 24-22 lead with 25 seconds left in the half after Miah Ostrwoski sank a 3-pointer and then made a steal and layup. But Lakes grabbed the lead back on a free throw by Angelo Bellamy and Alphonso Starling's putback with eight ticks remaining.

The Rams opened the second half with a 7-0 run. The Buffanblu cut it to 34-31 later in the third quarter on Ostrowski's layup, but Palm Beach Lakes finished the period with a 6-0 run and Punahou never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

"We let them score some easy baskets early in the second half, and then they were able to get separation," Punahou coach Greg Tacon said. "Our decision-making was very poor during that run, and I don't know if we took a single shot out of our offense in the whole third quarter."

Corey Claitt, a 6-foot-3 guard, led Lakes with a game-high 22 points, and 6-8 center Steve Toyloy added 10 points. Spencer McLachlin led Punahou with 13 points.

Despite the loss, the Buffanblu made a strong impression on Rams coach Lorenzo Hands.

"They are very organized and play extremely hard," Hands said. "We wanted to keep the pressure on them, but we got out of it for a while and that's a credit to their defense because they kept switching it up on us. They shoot the ball fairly well, play defense and are well-coached, so I think they would be one of the top teams in Palm Beach County."

DIVISION II

THIRD PLACE

Waialua 60, Ka'u 34. W—Edwin Rubio 20, Bernard Menor 10. K—Blaine Oliveira 22.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Iolani 60, Lanakila Baptist 50

I—Josh Starbuck 21, Matt Smith 11, Leo Shimizu 10. LB—Charles Hazlewood 14, Alika Borabora 14.

DIVISION I

FIRST ROUND

Arlington County Day (Jacksonville, Fla.) 97, Nanakuli 43. ACD—David Swann 16, Devon Lamb 15, Josue Soto 13, A.J. Stewart 11. N—Kalai Kahalekai 13.

Urspring (Ulm, Germany) 70, Damien 39. U—Marco Buljevic 13, Lucca Staiger 13, Nicolai Simon 13, Dima Rastatter 10. D—Matt Gochenouer 17.

Palm Beach (West Palm Beach, Fla.) 52, Punahou 40. PB—Corey Claitt 22. P—Spencer McLachlin 13.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.