‘Iolani holds on despite losing a top player

The tears fell on ‘Iolani’s bench as Alex Masaquel laid there under the basket with a broken tibia.

But 25 minutes later, after their fallen teammate was wheeled into an ambulance, the Raiders played with a vengeance. Saphyre Rezentes poured in 23 points as No. 2-ranked ‘Iolani edged No. 4 Punahou 59-58 Friday night at the Raiders’ gym.

‘Iolani remained unbeaten in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu at 8-0 (14-2 overall). Punahou dropped to 4-3 in league play (7-3 overall), nearly pushing past the Raiders in a frantic rally down the stretch.

Katie Tom had nine points, all in the first half, and sophomores Jade Botelho and Abrianna Johnson-Edwards chipped in seven each for the Raiders. Botelho had three key steals in the final quarter, and Taimane Passi pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.

Masaquel, the energetic, springy post, had four points and nine rebounds before going down with the injury with 5:25 left in the third quarter. After colliding with Punahou center Sydney Fanoga in a battle for a rebound, Masaquel wound up on her back, clutching her right heel. Trainers kept her foot elevated until paramedics arrived.

“The ref said they heard a crack,” ‘Iolani assistant coach Glenn Young said.

A boisterous crowd of about 300 went silent after it became apparent that the injury was serious. On the Raiders’ bench, teammates calmly huddled and were in tears.

“We won this game for Alex,” said Johnson-Edwards, one of Masaquel’s closest friends. “She’s a very big part of our team. We’re all very close.”

The team huddled around their injured teammate before she was transported to the hospital.

“She said she was sorry for getting hurt,” Botelho said. “We did a prayer for Alex. We wanted to win this for her.”

‘Iolani trailed for nearly the entire first half before taking a 26-25 lead on a free throw by Kylie Maeda. The Raiders opened the second half with a 5-0 run before Masaquel’s injury.

After a 6-minute warmup, the Raiders got hot. Rezentes swished a 3-pointer and Passi drove for a reverse layup, giving ‘Iolani a 36-25 lead. Punahou coach Kekoa Taliaferro was forced to burn his second time out of the third quarter.

The Raiders opened the lead to 47-33 early in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by Johnson-Edwards. The lead was up to 15 points with 3:42 left before the Buffanblu staged a furious rally.

Turner Wong hit a layup on the break and a baseline jumper, and after Reina Furuya drained a trey and Mysha Sataraka hit two foul shots, the Buffanblu were within 54-50 with 1:31 remaining.

A fast-break bucket by Rezentes opened the lead back to six points, but reserve guard Hailey Motooka arched in a rainbow 3-pointer off a skip pass from Furuya, and Punahou was within 56-53 with 1:08 to go.

Rezentes hit a free throw with 58 seconds left for a four-point lead, and ‘Iolani could’ve put the game on ice after a steal by Botelho. However, Tom missed an open 3-point try.

After Sataraka missed a 3-point shot, Rezentes hit two free throws for a 59-53 lead with 19 ticks left.

Sophomore Keaupono Fey hit a 3-pointer to bring Punahou within 59-56, and Sataraka stole the inbounds pass in the final seconds. She followed her own layup miss to cut ‘Iolani’s lead to 59-58 with 3.5 seconds left, but without a timeout remaining, Punahou could do nothing as ‘Iolani let the clock run out.

Sataraka sparked Punahou with 18 points and eight rebounds. Fanoga, who fouled out in the fourth quarter, had a team-high nine boards.

At ‘Iolani

PUNAHOU—Keaupono Fey 7, Hailey Motooka 5, Reina Furuya 6, Demi Coolen 1, Turner Wong 12, Kaitlyn Waki 3, Samantha Alakai 4, Mysha Sataraka 18, Sydney Fanoga 2.
‘IOLANI—Kylie Maeda 4, Pua Kahalehoe 0, Saphyre Rezentes 23, Klein Masutani 0, Katie Tom 9, Abrianna Johnson-Edwards 7, Alyssa Liilii 0, Sara Watanabe 0, Alex Masaquel 4, Taimane Passi 5, Jade Botelho 7.
3-point goals—Punahou 6 (Wong 2, Fey, Motooka, Waki, Furuya). ‘Iolani 5 (Rezentes 3, Tom, Johnson-Edwards).

ILH DIVISION II GIRLS

Hawaii Baptist 49, Punahou 48

Amber Au scored 12 points and Jennifer Uehara added 10 to lead the Eagles to a double-overtime homecoming win over the Buffanblu.

Jackson Durrett racked up 32 points to help the Navigators storm past the Warriors in the second half. Durrett sank three 3-pointers and went 11-for-15 from the free-throw line.

Kalei Hosaka scored eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter and BJ Hosaka converted both ends of a 1-and-1 in the closing seconds to lead the Eagles to a homecoming win over the Crusaders.