Raiders can’t seal the deal in loss to Buffanblu

They looked like front-runners, not two teams struggling to survive in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu.

No. 7 Punahou’s extraordinary comeback for a 38-35 victory over No. 4 ‘Iolani at Hemmeter Fieldhouse on Wednesday night put the two teams in a three-way tie for third place along with No. 5 Maryknoll. That means that all three of these boys basketball teams are also tied for second to last in the highly competitive league. Only two of six will make the state tournament.

It was ‘Iolani’s game to win, most of the way. But, it was that nasty matter of closing it out, and that’s where the Raiders (3-4) ultimately failed.

“Everything you need to finish, we didn’t do enough of,” said ‘Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto, whose team faces an uphill climb if it wants to reach the heights of last season, when it placed second in the state. “We didn’t finish our opportunities. We didn’t cherish the ball like we should have and we had a lot of bad turnovers. Missed free throws. You name it.”

Before that fourth-quarter breakdown, it was the Hugh Hogland show. The Raiders’ 6-foot-9 junior did a lot of everything for ‘Iolani — rebounding, scoring, shot-blocking, changing shooters’ angles, passing. With his confidence soaring, it looked like he was going to spearhead a comfortable win. But, not so fast.

The beginning of the end for ‘Iolani and the first sign of the Punahou uprising came at the end of the third quarter, when Zayne Chong drove the lane for bucket to trim an eight-point deficit to six, 28-22. A few moments later, Hogland was mauled by two Punahou players in the paint and missed his one-and-one.

Buffanblu coach Darren Matsuda credited the win to the defense against Hogland in crunch time by his four post players — Akahi Troske, Jack-Eli Tufono, Duke Clemens and Noah-Falcon Kaumatule.

“It’s always our game plan, to stop him (Hogland),” Matsuda said. “We just do our best against him. It’s a team effort. Jared Lum also showed his leadership and made some key plays attacking the basket in the fourth quarter.”

The Raiders got a bit of a reprieve when Zack Gelacio smoked home a 3-pointer with 4:55 to go for a 31-26 edge.

Christopher Kobayashi, who scored all six of his points in the second half, scored on a layup with 2:55 remaining to put the Buffanblu (3-4) up for first time since early in the game, 33-32.

Justin Genovia’s trey tied it briefly at 35-all before Troske’s inside bucket gave Punahou the lead for keeps, 37-35, with 1:20 left. With a chance to tie at the free-throw line with 5.5 seconds to go, Hogland hit the rim twice. Hunter Hosoda made it a 3-point game with one foul shot and ‘Iolani’s Robby Mann hoisted up and missed 3-pointer to tie at the buzzer.

Troske and Chong led the Buffanblu with eight points each. Robby Mann scored nine points for ‘Iolani, and Hogland’s unofficial stat line is something to behold: 11 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots.

“Robby Mann’s been carrying us,” Shimamoto said. “And Hugh came out real motivated today. All the games in the ILH are going to be close. We need other guys to step up offensively.”

Said the Buffanblu’s Matsuda: “Two or three weeks ago, we couldn’t have played a game like this. We’re a real young team and they’ve really grown up. I also thought the shot selection showed how much they’ve matured.”

‘IOLANI—Ryan Yoshioka 0, Helam Baldomero 0, Robby Mann 9, Zack Gelacio 5, Nick Kennedy 4, Noah Bumanglag 0, Justin Genovia 3, Bailey Alabanza 3, Cole Hogland 0, Cameron Chang 0, Hugh Hogland 11.

PUNAHOU—Cole Arceneaux 4, Zayne Chong 8, Hunter Hosoda 1, Maninoa Tufono 0, Kyle Yoshino 2, Hunter Lee 0, Christopher Kobayashi 6, Akahi Troske 8, Cole Mausolf 0, Kaulana Makaula 2, JackEli Tufono 1, Jared Lum 4, Les Falatea 0, Duke Clemens 2, Noah-Falcon Kaumatule 0.

3-point goals—‘Iolani 5 (Alabanza, Genovia, Gelacio, Kennedy, Mann). Punahou none.