‘Iolani takes the title

Sweet and slow, nice and boring and simply champions.

The top-seeded Iolani Raiders grabbed a lead, milked the clock and earned themselves a Division I state championship by squeezing the hopes out of second-seeded Farrington in a 43-40 victory in the final of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships.

"Farrington’s a tough team," said Iolani’s Zach Buscher, who had 11 points while directing the offense. "They fought. It was a war out there, man."

A raucous crowd of 3,382 at Blaisdell Arena saw the Raiders use their textbook, ball-control game plan to knock the OIA champions off stride. Farrington trailed from the start, hung close, but never got a run going against a pesky Iolani defense.

Ikaika Phillip was clutch once again, scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds on his way to all-tournament and most outstanding player honors.

Coach Dean Shimamoto went to his offensive workhorse in the post, where the 6-foot-1 senior put his smooth jump hook to work.

"I’m just happy. Really happy," Phillip said. "Right now, I’m just enjoying this moment."

Buscher also did the job on both ends, sharing defensive duties on Farrington’s explosive Jacob McEnroe. The Governors forward finished with a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds without a turnover, but was limited to just nine shots.

"I’m just trying to make him work. He’s bigger. He’s stronger," Buscher said. "Just trying to keep him in front."

Chris Gallacher was key with four points during a 10-3 run in the third quarter that broke open a tight contest. After Phillip drained two free throws, Iolani led 30-20 with two minutes to go in the third.

"We were with them the whole way. The boys played hard, but we got behind missing easy shots," Farrington coach Allan Silva said. "They capitalized on that and kept the lead all the way. They did a nice job holding the ball. They run a nice stall.

"It’s too bad we didn’t play better offensively. I’ve never seen us miss this many shots all season."

Shimamoto’s team started the season in run-and-gun mode, using a lot of traps defensively. But the Raiders’ metamorphosis into a ball-control, halfcourt-minded team was almost complete by the ILH tournament.

"We played the way we’ve played the last two weeks. Very solid defensively. Did enough at the free-throw line," he said. "Punahou had some ugly games against us. Maryknoll had some ugly games against us. Campbell had some ugly games against us. Our defense is a team thing."

Farrington shot 30 percent from the field (14-for-47) and just 53 percent from the foul line (9-for-17), but stayed in the game thanks to reserve center Mason Semisi. The 6-5 senior scored eight points in the second half, powering inside against Iolani shot-blocking machine Hugh Hogland.

The Raiders were deliberate on offense, but when they went to a delay game with a 35-27 lead and less than six minutes to play, Governors fans booed louder than they had all night.

"It’s part of the game," Buscher said. "We got the lead, we’re going to make their defense work. We’re going to look for a good shot.

"We know we don’t have to force shots. We use that to our advantage."

Farrington didn’t unleash a fullcourt press until the final three minutes, creating some havoc. McEnroe hit a putback and Isaiah Visoria connected on a free throw to bring the Govs within 35-30, but the Raiders broke through the press and Buscher found Gallacher for a layup and a 37-30 lead with 2:02 remaining.

Two foul shots by Semisi swished through to cut the lead to 37-32 with 1:47 to go, but Erik Yamada (six points, four assists) came through with two free throws.

Farrington went cold from the field until McEnroe hustled after an offensive rebound in the corner and banked in a 3-pointer. Down 39-35, the Govs fouled Buscher, who hit two free throws for a six-point lead with 18 ticks to go.

Yamada added two more foul shots with 13 seconds left to put the game out of reach. Mark Dudalao hit an uncontested layup and McEnroe hit another trey at the buzzer to close out the scoring.

"It does feel different. This is a different group of kids. They worked so hard. For them to be able to see there’s gold at the end of the rainbow, that’s awesome," Shimamoto said of the program’s first state title since 2010. "We figured out what was effective for us. The first time we played Maryknoll, we got ran out. We had to play at a different tempo. Punahou was so athletic, too. Just to get out of the ILH, we had to change."

And with that, the two-time state-championship coach was ushered to the ladder, and then cut the final strands of the only net still clinging to iron.

Halftime — ‘Iolani 21, Farrington 16.
3-points goals — Farringon 3-8 (McEnroe 3-4, Hugo 0-4). ‘Iolani 1-5 (Buscher 1-2, Winchester 0-1, Phillip 0-2). Steals — Farrington 2 (Visoria, Duldulao). ‘Iolani 2 (Gallacher, Yamada). Blocked shots — Farrington 2 (Semisi, Luafatasaga). ‘Iolani 2 (Hogland 2). Officials — Eric Morales, Jose Irizarry, Bobby Higa. A—3,382.

DIVISION I THIRD PLACE

Maryknoll 73, Campbell 63

MARYKNOLL—Kyle Wong 0, Michael Miske 2, Jake Suyemoto 0, Sean Ogata 6, Jake Suyemoto 0, Darin Miyamoto 0, Hayato Kamata 2, Joshua Burnett 38, Calvin Koo 0, James Winquist 11, Shane Victorino 3, Tyson Kaloa11, Brandon Floyd 0, Micah McGivern 0.

CAMPBELL—Jomar Gapusan 7, Michael Merchant 19, Isaac Hurd 10, Jayce Bantolina 8, Lamart Dudley 3, Joshua Forte 0, Gilbert Dayanan 8, Jonathan Onza 0, Juan Felizardo 1, Melvin Bergado 2, Kainoa Perry 0, Alex Layi 5, Kieran Boudreoux-Bostic 0.

3-point goals—Maryknoll 7 (Ogata 2, Burnett 2, Winquist, Kaloa, Victorino). Campbell 10 (Merchant 5, Gapusan, Hurd, Bantolina, Dayanan, Layi).

DIVISION I FIFTH PLACE

Konawaena 52, Baldwin 51

DIVISION I
All-Tournament Team
Joshua Burnett, Maryknoll
Zach Buscher, Iolani
Ryan Garces, Baldwin
Kaleb Gilmore, Maryknoll
Jacob McEnroe, Farrington
 
Most Outstanding Player:
Ikaika Phillip, Iolani