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Gabriel Vega scored 19 points and sophomore Zach Buscher sank six consecutive free throws in the final 54 seconds to seal ‘Iolani’s 42-36 win over University High on Tuesday.
The Raiders’ win, before 250 fans at their gym, sets up a showdown with defending state champion Kamehameha on Friday for the third and final state-tournament berth in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. The game will be at ‘Iolani’s gym.
“We got them two times and it’ll be tough trying to beat them a third time. They’ll bring the pressure,” Raiders coach Dean Shimamoto said, already envisioning a mix of defenses to counter Kamehameha sharpshooter Dyrbe Enos.
“Dyrbe’s so good,” he said.
For now, the Raiders are thankful that Buscher stepped up as a closer for the first time.
“We work on free throws at practice a lot,” the 6-foot guard said.
“He had some of those turnovers that led to buckets, so I’m glad he kept his composure,” Shimamoto said. “We’ve had sophomore and freshman guards this season and they’ve matured every game. December feels like it was a whole season ago.”
It was a clutch win for ‘Iolani (14-10, 8-5 league), which also got nine rebounds and three blocks from the 6-foot-7 Vega. Duke Pauli added nine points for the Raiders, who shot 43 percent from the field (13-for-30) and 88 percent at the foul line (14-for-16). They also had a 19-17 edge on the boards and seven blocked shots.
The game swung on a key sequence with about 3 minutes left and ‘Iolani ahead 34-33.
Gui Aires stole the ball from Buscher for a potential breakaway basket, but Buscher hustled back and gave Aires a hard foul. The University bench expected an intentional foul call, but Aires was just given two shots for a standard personal foul.
“I thought it was intentional. He wasn’t going for the ball,” Aires said. “The ref said he’d let me have the next one.”
“That was a pivotal call,” UHS coach Walt Quitan said.
Shimamoto thought it was a gray-area play.
“That was a tough one. (Buscher) got some of the ball, he got a lot of the body. I understand what Walt was looking for,” Shimamoto said. “If he didn’t get any of the ball, I could see it.”
Aires made the second shot to tie the game. The Junior Rainbows got the ball back, and Aires fed Cameron Conant for a layup attempt, but Vega swooped in to block the ball off the glass.
“I had a feeling Gui was going the basket; he was getting to the basket all night. It look liked he was going to dump it, so I played off him and tried to contest the shot. I wish I could’ve done more of that,” Vega said.
He hit two foul shots to give the Raiders a 36-34 lead with 1:18 remaining, and the Jr. ’Bows went cold from the field against ‘Iolani’s man defense. Buscher swished two free throws with 54 seconds left for a 38-34 lead.
Aires cut the margin to two points with a tough layup in traffic with 43 ticks to go, but Buscher calmly hit two more free throws with 31 seconds remaining for a 40-36 lead.
Vega missed two foul shots with 21 seconds left, but Nalu O’Connor’s 3-point try was short, and Buscher hit his final two foul shots with 5.9 seconds left.
“We look at this as one of six state-tournament games; two to get in (ILH tournament) and four at states,” Shimamoto said. “I wouldn’t say I was comfortable, but we hope in those moments that we don’t get frustrated. They got stops, rebounds and free throws, and that hadn’t been done by us. We did it like a veteran team.”
Aires scored 12 points to lead UHS, which closed the season 19-8 (8-5 league).
“It’s been a tough season, but I’m happy with our team. We believed in ourselves,” Aires said. “I thought I could’ve done much better, but we stepped up.”
The Jr. ’Bows had open looks, but shot just 9 percent from the arc (1-for-11).
“I’m proud of my kids. They battled to the end,” Quitan said. “We made their bigs work for everything. ‘Iolani made one or two more plays than us and they hit their free throws.”
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At ‘Iolani
| University (8-5) |
4 |
11 |
9 |
12 |
— |
36 |
| ‘Iolani (8-5) |
7 |
13 |
7 |
15 |
— |
42 |
UNIVERSITY—Makena Suan-Rothenberg 8, Anthony Canencia 7, Cameron Conant 5, Ian Akamine 0, Peter Fee 2, Nalu O’Connor 2, Gui Aires 12.
‘IOLANI—Andrew Okimura 0, Drew Uchiyama 5, Erik Yamada 0, Reece Foy 3, Austin O’Leary 0, Gabriel Vega 19, Zach Buscher 6, Josiah Situmeang 0, Duke Pauli 9.
3-point goals—University 1 (Canencia), ‘Iolani 2 (Uchiyama, Foy).
ILH DIVISION II
Christian Academy 64, Hawaii Baptist 61
Jasen Ocol scored 30 points, including four 3-pointers, to lift the Patriots past the Eagles.
Kalei Hosaka scored 19 and sank four 3-pointers for Hawaii Baptist in the loss.
At Hawaii Baptist
| CA (3-10) |
20 |
13 |
14 |
17 |
— |
64 |
| HBA (5-8) |
22 |
5 |
20 |
14 |
— |
61 |
CHRISTIAN ACADEMY—Shawn Bonilla 14, Micah Sugiura 11, Jasen Ocol 30, Christopher Canoneo 2, Ethan Reyes 7.
HAWAII BAPTIST—Aaron Miyasaki 0, Michael Dang 0, Travis Teramae 12, BJ Hosaka 10, Kalei Hosaka 19, Matthew Kishaba 5, Jordan Kauwe 12, Matthew Tommee 0, John Hirokawa 3.
3-point goals—Christian Academy 6 (Ocol 4, Bonilla 2). Hawaii Baptist 6 (K. Hosaka 4, Teramae, Kishaba).
Le Jardin 65, Lanakila Baptist 55
Four Bulldogs scored in double digits with Sean McWhinnie finishing with 17 in their win over the Warriors.
EJ Butler led Lanakila Baptist with 20.
At Le Jardin
| LBS (2-11) |
8 |
20 |
8 |
19 |
— |
55 |
| Le Jardin (6-5) |
21 |
8 |
12 |
24 |
— |
65 |
LANAKILA BAPTIST—Jeremy Clark 0, Isaac Shubert 0, Roycen Routt 3, Matthew Kakilala 11, EJ Butler 20, Jordan Cabato 12, Andrew Walker 9.
LE JARDIN—Alec Macleod 6, Frank Montalvo 4, Sean McWhinnie 17, Sam Spengler 15, Julien Perkins 10, Jake Blaskowski 13, Dillan Van Ness 0, Michael Gabrelcik 0, Nick Vinsonhaler 0, Stig Regan 0, Johnson Le 0, Alex Tatum 0.
3-point goals—Lanakila Baptist 2 (Routt, Walker). Le Jardin 5 (Blaskowski 3, McWhinnie, Macleod).
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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM