‘Iolani senior night 1, Punahou Carnival 0.

The ninth-ranked ‘Iolani boys basketball team celebrated senior night with a 29-27 upset of No. 1 Punahou in front of a full gym at ‘Iolani on Tuesday night.

“Everyone is giving leis to the seniors and it wouldn’t be that fun if we lost the game,” ‘Iolani guard Erik Yamada said. “We had to win it.”

Yamada made a pair of free throws to give ‘Iolani the lead with 39.8 seconds left, then shut down Punahou point guard Jordan Tanuvasa on the final play to score the upset and put the fate of the ILH’s regular-season title and the state berth that comes with it in Maryknoll’s hands.

If the Spartans can beat Saint Louis today, they get the berth. If they lose, Punahou would have to beat Kamehameha on Friday to force a playoff.

“We played a little tight tonight, a little post-carnival funk,” Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said. “We are a young team and I think everything happens for a reason and this might help us. You never want to think a loss is great, but we have to learn how to play under pressure.”

The Raiders didn’t stall against the Buffanblu like they did in a loss to Maryknoll on Jan. 23. Instead, they played near-flawless defense. And they needed it.

Punahou shut out ‘Iolani in the first quarter, and held the Raiders to six points in the first half.

“That didn’t faze us,” Yamada said. “We have been shut out in the first quarter before, against Maryknoll, so that was something we were used to already.”

‘Iolani didn’t score until its 13th possession, when Trey Kidd scored on a fast break with 6:47 left in the second quarter. The bucket pulled the Raiders within six points, 8-2, because their defense was as outstanding as their offense was putrid.

‘Iolani scored on only three of its 24 possessions in the first half with nine turnovers, and the Raiders missed all four of their free throws. Punahou scored on seven of its 23 possessions with five turnovers, but was 6-for-6 from the line to take an 18-6 advantage at the half.

“You have to give (‘Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto) and his team the credit,” Matsuda said. “That is probably the best defensive team we have played all year and they can beat anybody if they play that way.”

‘Iolani found an offense to go with its defense in the second half, scoring on five straight possessions in the third quarter to cut the margin to 22-18. After two turnovers to begin the fourth quarter, the Raiders scored on four more possessions in a row to cut the margin to one point, 27-26.

Ikaika Phillip carved out space on the block and was fouled by Nick Velasquez, making the second of two free throws to tie it at 27 with 1:26 left. ‘Iolani was 5-for-11 from the line before Phillip hit his free throw. Punahou finished a perfect 10-for-10.

After misses by Tanuvasa and Velasquez for Punahou and one by Zach Buscher, ‘Iolani worked for the final shot with 45 seconds left. Velasquez, who committed five turnovers in the game, stole the ball from Yamada, but fouled him in the process. Yamada stood up and hit both of his shots to give ‘Iolani a 29-27 lead with 39.8 seconds left. It was a far cry from the 57 points they allowed Punahou in their first meeting, a 21-point loss.

“The one constant is that we played great defense and that kept us in it,” Shimamoto said. “If you do that, you hope you can get some buckets, either from the line or wherever, and we got them.”

Punahou had one last shot to stay tied atop the ILH. Kupono Fey put up a baseline jumper with 20 seconds left that went awry. Buscher got the rebound but was stripped by Dayson Watanabe to keep the Buffanblu alive. Tanuvasa initiated Punahou’s offense, but couldn’t find an open man with Yamada hounding him and had no choice but to pass it back to Kanawai Noa at halfcourt with two seconds left. Matsuda said his point guard has five options on that play, but none of them were open.

At ‘Iolani
Punahou (7-2)    8    10    4    12 – 27
‘Iolani (4-5)         0     6    12   11 – 29

PUNAHOU—Dayson Watanabe 6, Jordan Tanuvasa 6, Nick Velasquez 9, Ranson Oda 0, Kupono Fey 2, Justin Kam 2, Daniel Andrews 2, Kanawai Noa 0.
‘IOLANI— Erik Yamada 8, Zach Buscher 4, Erik Yamada 8, Trey Kidd 6, Adrian Kwok 1, Ikaika Phillip 1, Drew Uchiyama 0, Josiah Situmeang 0, John Lee 0, Andrew Okimura 0, Nick Kim 0.
3-pointers: Pun 1 (Velasquez). Iol: 1 (Foy)

ILH DIVISION II BOYS

Hanalani 59, Lanakila Baptist 51
Michael Milton scored 19 points and Lucas Leaman 13 as the Royals rallied to beat the Warriors.

At Hanalani
LB (2-7)              16    7    12    16    —    51
Hanalani (6-3)    9    21    16    13    —    59

LANAKILA BAPTIST—Elijah Butler 23, Isaac Shubert 4, Roycen Routt 5, Jeremy Clark 0, Andrew Walker 17, Hikaru Kamikubo 2, Jarrod Mariano 0.
HANALANI—Lucas Leaman 13, Michael Milton 19, John Brady 7, Nicholas Milone 7, Zane Pantil 0, Conner Kaneshiro 0, Chas Kubo 7, Jeff Schaake 2, Isaac Liva 0, Scott Fujiwara 0, Duane Teem 4, Kody Fahrni 0.
3-point goals—Lanakila Baptist 1 (Walker). Hanalani 4 (Leaman 2, Kubo 2).

ILH DIVISION I-AA

Kamehameha 54, Punahou 50