The Punahou Buffanblu charged ahead, nearly gave up a 13-point lead and hung on for a 48-46 win over ‘Iolani to capture the ILH boys basketball championship on Friday night. 

‘Iolani’s Pikai Winchester missed an open 3 from the left corner on an inbounds play that could’ve given the visiting Raiders the ILH tournament title. That would have forced a another matchup against Punahou, the regular-season winner, on Saturday. 

Instead, the Buffanblu (23-3, 11-1 ILH) won their first league crown since 2012. 

"I’m happy we got this one and we look forward to representing the ILH. That was a great game," coach Darren Matsuda said. "What we’ve ridden all year is our defense, and that’s what got us the win today." 

J.B. Kam scored 13 points for No. 3 Punahou, hitting three treys before fouling out. Dayson Watanabe (12 points) and Jordan Tanuvasa (10) anchored the Buffanblu backcourt. Micah Ma’a had five points, five boards and one key block on a 10-footer by Robby Mann with 1.7 seconds left, moments before Winchester got his chance to win the game for fourth-ranked ‘Iolani (15-7, 8-4 ILH). 

"We got a very clean shot to win the game," ‘Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto said. "Punahou is a very good team. This is the kind of team we’ll play in the state tourney." 

Hemmeter Fieldhouse was stuffed with vocal backers from both schools; attendance was roughly 1,200. Punahou’s fans were enthralled with their team’s hot perimeter shooting early on. The Buffanblu got a pair of 3-pointers from Tanuvasa, and then two bombs from Watanabe in an 18-8 run to start the contest. 

The Raiders pulled within 18-13 behind some tough drives in traffic by Erik Yamada (15 points), but Kam awoke. After taking just one shot in the first quarter, he stretched Raiders center Hugh Hogland beyond the arc and hit a 3 from the top. After Hogland was called for a foul on a Punahou screener during the play, the Buffanblu got the ball back and Kam swished another long 3 to open their lead to 28-15 midway through the second quarter. 

Punahou shot 13-for-24 from the field in the first half, including 6-for-11 from 3-point range, but was just 6-for-20 after the break. 

Kam opened the second half with a follow shot, and then drilled a corner 3 to open Punahou’s biggest lead, 37-23. However, Kam committed his fourth foul two minutes later and returned to the bench. 

"When he got into foul trouble, that kind of slows down the offense and ‘Iolani is a good defensive team," Matsuda said. 

The Raiders chipped away at the lead, and when Mann (16 points) scored a layup on a pass from Kamu Borden, they were down 42-35 after three quarters. 

Both teams stayed in man-to-man defense from start to finish, but Punahou went to a more deliberate pace at the start of the fourth quarter. It almost backfired. They missed tough 3-point shots and runners in the lane against ‘Iolani’s wall of defense, and the Raiders capitalized. 

Hogland’s spin move on the low post for a deuce cut the lead to 42-39 with 2:40 to play. Punahou answered with a drive to the bucket by Watanabe for a five-point lead. 

Punahou’s penchant for kill shots rather than eating time off the clock almost cost them the win. Buffanblu fans let out a collective "No!" when Kam launched a corner 3, but Ma’a soared in for a point-blank putback to give their team a 46-39 lead with less than two minutes to play. 

‘Iolani cut the lead to 46-44 on Mann’s wide-open 3 from the right wing with 35 seconds left. But Punahou had some struggles at the foul line. Watanabe had missed the front of a 1-and-1 earlier, and Tanuvasa made just one of two foul shots with 33 seconds to go. 

Yamada hit Bryson Hamada with a perfect backdoor bounce pass for a reverse layup to cut the lead to 47-46 with 16 seconds left.

Tanuvasa went 1-for-2 at the line again to give his team a two-point lead with 13.8 ticks left, setting up the final sequence of opportunities for the Raiders. 

The state tournament begins Wednesday, giving teams time to work on a thing or two. 

"We’ve got to clean up some decisions on shots and transition," Shimamoto said of his defending state champions. "The next time, hopefully, we’ll see (Punahou) in the finals. But first we’ve got to prepare for all these good OIA teams." 

‘IOLANI–Robby Mann 16, Zach Gelacio 2, Bryson Hamada 6, Shane Lay 0, Erik Yamada 15, John Lee 0, Pikai Winchester 1, Kamu Borden 4, Hugh Hogland 2. 

PUNAHOU–Randon Oda 2, Jordan Tanuvasa 10, Chris Kobayashi 0, Micah Ma’a 5, J.B. Kam 13, Dayson Watanabe 12, Kanawai Noa 2, Jared Lum 0, Akahi Troske 4.

3-point goals–‘Iolani 2 (Mann, Yamada), Punahou 7 (Kam 3, Tanuvasa 2, Watanabe 2).