Hugh Hogland scored 17 points and Robby Mann added 14 as ‘Iolani outlasted Saint Louis 47-40 to capture the Interscholastic League of Honolulu regular-season title on Monday night at the Raiders’ gym.
‘Iolani also secured a precious state-tournament berth, one of just two allotted to the ILH. After going 6-4 in regular-season play and adding two more wins, there’s still a busy week ahead for the ILH’s six Division I teams. The playoffs begin today with Mid-Pacific at Kamehameha and Maryknoll at Punahou. ‘Iolani will host the Kamehameha/Mid-Pacific winner on Wednesday. Saint Louis will entertain the Punahou-Maryknoll winner, also on Wednesday.
“We got that bid. It feels great,” said the 6-foot-9 Hogland, who tallied a game-high 14 rebounds along with four assists and four blocks in what may have been his best performance of the season.
“We can celebrate tonight. I’m going to sleep early and have nice dreams,” the junior added.
The arduous route caused by a four-way tie at the end of the regular season forced those four teams to enter a two-round tiebreaker playoff. On Saturday, ‘Iolani got past Punahou in overtime and Saint Louis ousted host Kamehameha in the first round.
‘Iolani and Saint Louis (7-5) split their games during the regular season, the home team winning each time. On Monday, Hogland was not to be denied.
“Don’t get complacent. That was the big thing preached today,” Hogland said.
The Raiders endured what may have been the roughest road to a state berth in any island league ever.
“We’re happy to have the opportunity to be in this position, but we haven’t won anything yet,” ‘Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto said. “We got a state berth, which is great, but we want to win the ILH championship.”
It was a classic battle between two outstanding big men, Hogland and Saint Louis’ Tristan Nichols, a 6-6 senior. Nichols finished with eight points and six boards, but struggled with foul trouble during a pivotal third quarter.
Nichols had just swished back-to-back 16-footers over Hogland just beyond the foul line to keep Saint Louis within 27-24. He committed his third foul moments later, and with his team down 30-26, Nichols fouled Hogland at the rim. Hogland hit the foul shot to complete a three-point play, and Nichols went to the bench with his fourth personal.
“That hurt us,” Saint Louis coach Allan Silva said.
What also hurt was foul trouble for normally high-scoring guard Jaymason Nunuha, who picked up a third foul late in the first half. Nunuha finished with six points on 2-for-8 shooting.
“He didn’t have his usual game. He’s getting over the calf injury and the ankle injury,” Silva said. “But when he’s on, he’s on.”
With Nichols sitting, the Raiders stretched the lead to 39-30 on a layup by Mann and a follow shot by Hogland. Zach Choo hit an NBA-distance 3 for the Crusaders, and after Noa Purcell hustled for a steal and layup, the lead was down to four points when Shimamoto called time out.
The Raiders, methodically running their motion attack, got a pass from Hogland to Nick Kennedy for a layup — despite a heavily taped shooting hand for Kennedy — and after Nichols missed a fast-break layup try, Helam Baldomero connected on an 8-foot floater in the paint. That pushed ‘Iolani’s lead to 43-35 and Saint Louis got no closer than four the rest of the way.
”We’ve got a lot of shooting to do,” Silva said of today’s upcoming practice. “A lot of layups.”
Some of the shooting struggles — Saint Louis was 16-for-47 from the field (34 percent) — were due to Hogland and his frontcourt mates challenging most shots at the rim.
“Hogland is much better (this year). He’s still improving,” Silva said.
Hogland, who missed some action earlier in the season while on a volleyball trip, took an elbow to the jaw during a tussle on the floor for a loose ball. It didn’t stop him from smiling after the game.
“Tristan is a good player. I have a ton of respect for him. If it’s one-on-one (in the post), I’m going to win that matchup every time,” he said.
