Like the concept of Twilight 'Ohana, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team is a work in progress.

The Rainbow Warriors went through a sometimes-spectacular, sometimes-sloppy intrasquad scrimmage to cap their opening night of practice last night. A crowd of around 2,500 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Julian Sensley lead the "Green" team to a 38-33 victory over the "White" team.

Sensley, a 6-foot-9 senior who was the No. 1 draft pick for the scrimmage, scored a game-high 13 points.

"We're going to be a more athletic team than last year," Sensley said. "I think we'll be fun to watch. I think the fans will get to see the kind of excitement in games they saw when A.C. (Anthony Carter) and Alika (Smith) were here."

Last night was the opening practice for all NCAA basketball teams. In the past, the 'Bows celebrated into the early morning with Midnight 'Ohana. Last night, the time was moved earlier, although the scrimmage still finished close to midnight.

Sensley had the highlight play of the night with a powerful slam dunk that gave his team a 34-29 lead with 2:51 remaining in the 20-minute scrimmage.

"This game is for the fans, so you try to go out there and do some stuff you probably wouldn't do in games," Sensley said.

Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace was an impartial observer for the scrimmage. "It's a pick-up game, so you can't take too much from it," he said. "But you can see we have some athleticism and I like how aggressive some of the guys were, like Julian."

Bobby Nash and newcomer Ahmet Gueye led the White team with 10 points each. Gueye, a 6-8 forward, also had five blocked shots and two steals.

"I liked his defense," Wallace said. "We haven't had interior defense like that in a while."

In the 3-point shootout between the men's and women's teams, Amy Sanders beat Matt Lojeski, 15-13.

Lojeski got his redemption by winning the slam-dunk contest, beating Gueye in the final. Lojeski's best dunk came when he grabbed a pass in midair while jumping over teammate John Wilder.

The players and coaches from both teams dressed in costumes for their introductions, with "Night of the Stars" as the theme of the night. Among the standouts were Chris Botez as Russell Crowe's character in "Gladiator," "Little Matt" Gibson as rapper Eminem, and Stephen Verwers as Napoleon Dynamite.

Wallace dressed as Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter character in the "Silence of the Lambs" movies.

UH RAINBOW WAHINE

CARIAGA, AIWOHI LEAD GREEN TO 33-20 VICTORY

Saundra Cariaga and Brittney Aiwohi each scored nine points to lead the University of Hawai'i women's green team past the white squad, 33-20, last night in a 15-minute scrimmage.

Cariaga, a sophomore guard from Kamuela, Hawai'i, was 4 for 4 from the floor, including one 3-point basket.

Aiwohi, a senior swing player from Honolulu, was 3 of 5 from 3-point range.

Led by Cariaga and Aiwohi, the white team shot 6 of 8 from 3-point range. The green was 2 of 9.

Hawai'i coach Jim Bolla said he was pleased with both teams' performances last night and said the event was great for the players.

"No one got hurt," Bolla said. "They got to run up and down the floor and have some fun. The players enjoyed getting dressed up with the costumes. It was a good way to kick off practice and then get serious on what we need to do."

After a pair of free throws by Emily Helmley got the white within 17-15, Aiwohi sank her second 3-pointer to give the green a 20-15 lead.

Following a basket by the white's Amy Sanders, Aiwohi hit another 3-pointer to push the green lead to 23-17 with 3:30 remaining.

Sanders answered with a 3-pointer, but the green closed the final 2:46 on a 10-0 run. Cariaga scored five points during the surge, including a 3-pointer.

Sanders led the white with six points and Cassidy Chretien had a game-high three steals. Brittany Grice had a game-high six rebounds for the green.

Bolla dressed as Duane "Dog" Chapman for the "Night of Stars" theme.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.