Raiders refuse to be blown out in their own tournament

It looked like visiting Oregon City would step on the gas and leave the ‘Iolani girls in the dust in the third quarter Thursday night. But the Raiders held on for dear life and came close to upsetting the Pioneers on the first day of the ‘Iolani Classic.

In the end, the team from Oregon walked off the court breathing a sigh of relief after a 56-54 win.

“We kept trying to put them away and we couldn’t,” said Pioneers coach Kurt Guelsdorf. “‘Iolani has always done that. We’ve been here three or four times and we know the drill.”

When Raiders freshman Lily Lefotu Wahinekapu side-stepped a defender in the paint for a bucket with 1:08 remaining, the Oregon City lead — which had been as high as nine points in the third quarter — was down to one, 54-53.

Neither team scored again until five ticks showed on the clock — Riley Schedler’s layup on a pass by Kylie Guelsdorf, who negotiated the play through two ‘Iolani defenders, to make it 56-53.

After pushing the ball quickly down court, Lefotu Wahinekapu went to the line with two seconds left, giving the Raiders a glimmer of hope. Her first shot went in, and she missed the second on purpose. The rebound went high in the air and was knocked out of bounds by the Raiders’ Tori Lynn Maeda. The ‘Iolani bench immediately showed dismay at the call that gave the Raiders no chance to finish the comeback.

“I thought it went off the other team and we would have a chance to get an inbounds play,” Raiders coach Dean Young said. “It’s very rare that we outjump somebody, so it was surprising it was out on us.”

It’s no secret that height has never been a thing the ‘Iolani girls are known for.

“They do some things that we’re not great at defending,” Guelsdorf said. “They attack you hard off the dribble. They played with five guards. Our bigs were out there guarding kids 25 feet from the rim. They’re not used to that. What that does is it puts pressure on every rotation. It’s a struggle.”

Kaari Guelsdorf, Kylie’s twin sister, made the most important contribution of the night for the Pioneers, canning three 3-pointers from the left wing — all early in the third quarter to turn a four-point lead into a 34-25 bulge.

“We had breakdowns with their top shooter that we game-planned for hitting those 3s — that was devastating,” Young said. “But we kept playing basket by basket, and with three freshmen (Lefotu Wahinekapu and twins Alexis and Alexsandra Huntimer) on the court, that was great to see. That’s what I’m most pleased about — how we kept fighting back and fighting back.”

Lefotu Wahinekapu poured in a game-high 20 points and Kellie Okamura added 12 for the Raiders.

“She didn’t play scared and was very aggressive,” Young said about Lefotu Wahinekapu. “Sometimes when you’re young, you don’t know enough to be scared or how big a moment is or how good a team is that you’re playing against.”

Kylie Guelsdorf finished with 14 points for Oregon City, Kaari had 12, and Brooke Bullock contributed 12 of her 13 points in the first half.

Coach Guelsdorf lamented some poor free-throw shooting; the Pioneers missed four of five with less than 2:30 to go.

“That could have put it away,” he said.

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PREP BASKETBALL SCOREBOARD

‘IOLANI PREP GIRLS CLASSIC

At ‘Iolani

First round

>> Southridge (Beaverton, Ore.) 66, Kalani 39

>> Maryknoll 67, Miramonte (Orinda, Calif.) 59

>> Oregon City (Beaverton, Ore.) 56, ‘Iolani 54

>> Centennial (Las Vegas) 58, Naha Senior (Okinawa, Japan) 36

ILH

Girls Varsity I

>> Kamehameha 70, Sacred Hearts 37

Leading scorers—KS: Kalina Obrey 20, Kiana Vierra 15, Camille Feary 12. SHA: Dallas Martinez 9.

Girls Varsity II

>> Punahou 47, University 36

Leading scorers—Pun: Aria Grossman 13, Gabrielle Pregana 10. UHS: Tia Akasaki 8, Ti Posiulai 8.

Girls JV I

>> Kamehameha-Blue 40, Hawaii Baptist 32

OIA EAST

Girls Varsity

>> Kaiser 51, Roosevelt 49, OT

Leading scorers—Kais: Stephanie Cannon 13, Trinidee Kahunahana 10. Roos: Sadie Ann Luiz 17, Sunshine Vicente 17. Moanalua 54, Castle 16. Leading scorers—Moan: Delylah Sanerivi 13. Cast: Mele Turner 6.

Girls JV

>> Roosevelt 56, Kaiser 43

>> Castle def. Moanalua, score NA

OIA WEST

Girls Varsity

>> Pearl City 18, Aiea 17

Leading scorers—PC: Alyssa Oshita 6. Aiea: Ufi Ale 10.

>> Radford 35, Nanakuli 21

Leading scorers—Rad: Salara Dill 14. Nan: Kanani Diamond 13. Waianae 32, Waipahu 25. Leading scorers—Wain: Yasmine Ching 12. Waip: Mia DePonte 8.

Girls JV

>> Radford 30, Nanakuli 28

>> Waianae 39, Waipahu 18