The ILH regular season came to a close on Saturday and there’s still no consensus on the best team in the league.
No. 4 ‘Iolani survived six fourth-quarter lead changes to force a three-way tie atop the league with a 43-41 victory over No. 2 Maryknoll on senior night at ‘Iolani School.
Helam Baldomero’s 3-pointer with 3:22 remaining gave the Raiders (8-2) the lead for good and ‘Iolani outscored the Spartans 27-18 in the second half to win in their sixth consecutive game decided by eight points or fewer.
“(The whole) season has been like this,” ‘Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto said. “We felt like (Maryknoll) came out and was attacking us in the first half and we were playing on our heels. We just stood strong in that second half and didn’t let them push us around as much.”
Maryknoll (8-2) won the first meeting by two points, with ‘Iolani returning the favor to force a tie atop the league standings with Punahou. The Raiders and Spartans will meet again on Monday as part of an ILH playoff to determine the regular-season champion. The winner will play the Buffanblu on Tuesday.
“I feel like we’re in a good spot,” said ‘Iolani junior forward Cole Hogland, who had six points and a team-high seven rebounds. “We haven’t peaked yet … but I think we’re still almost (to that point).”
Maryknoll junior guard Jaylen Cain had a team-high 15 points and made two free throws with 22 seconds remaining in the first half to give the Spartans their largest lead of the game at 23-15.
‘Iolani started the second half with an 11-2 run capped off by an and-1 opportunity by Hogland to give the Raiders their first lead since midway through the first quarter.
Bailey Alabanza’s putback at the third-quarter buzzer gave ‘Iolani a 29-27 lead to end a period in which ‘Iolani held Maryknoll to four points on 1-for-6 shooting.
“This was a game we had to win to make that playoff,” said guard Justin Genovia, who had seven points and four assists. “We definitely picked it up (in the second half).”
‘Iolani big man Hugh Hogland, who had a game-high 16 points, five rebounds and two blocks, was hit with four fouls in the second half — three on the offensive end — and had to sit with 7:49 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The lead changed hands six times over the next four minutes until Baldomero hit ‘Iolani’s only 3-pointer of the game.
Isiah Gelacio’s second 3-pointer cut ‘Iolani’s lead to one at 39-38 with 1:29 remaining.
Hugh Hogland made two big free throws for ‘Iolani, which was 9-for-15 from the line in the fourth quarter.
The Raiders came in shooting 53 percent for the season from the free-throw line and gave Maryknoll a chance to tie.
Baldomero missed both free throws with 7.5 seconds remaining and Maryknoll sprinted down the court.
Jordyn Perez got a look on a tying runner near the baseline but came up just short as time expired.
“We’ve been shooting free throws so poorly that the fact we were making some free throws were the big shots for us,” Shimamoto said. “We really don’t know how they are going to go. We finished a lot better at least today.”
No. 4 ‘Iolani 43, No. 2 Maryknoll 41
At ‘Iolani
Maryknoll (8-2) 10 13 4 14 — 41
‘Iolani (8-2) 8 8 13 14 — 43
MARYKNOLL—Isiah Gelacio 6, Daven Pila 0, Jordyn Perez 4, Makoto Kamata 8, Kainoa Ferreira 0, Jaylen Cain 15, Kaulana Schmidt 6, Payton Grant 0, Marcus Tobin 2 Riden Leong 0.
‘IOLANI—Helam Baldomero 8, Kawika Lee 2, Frank Felix 0, Ryan Van Cantfort 2, Bailey Alabanza 2, Noah Bumanglag 0, Justin Genovia 7, Cole Hogland 6, Hugh Hogland 16, Carter Kamana 0.
3-point goals—Maryknoll 3 (Gelacio 2, Cain). ‘Iolani 1 (Baldomero).
Mid-Pacific 56, Saint Louis 51
At Mid-Pacific
Saint Louis 13 16 16 6 — 51
Mid-Pacific 7 11 19 19 — 56
ST. LOUIS — Jaymason Nunuha 13, Keawe Silva 4, Trey Taba 1, Lo’i Rivera 2, Noah Browne 6, Lachlan Henneman 0, Jalen Smith 7, Chris Sykes 11, Noa Purcell 2, Gino Quinones 0, Josh White 5.
MID-PACIFIC — Travis Murayama 4, Cade Coito 13, Hooper LeBlanc 0, Kamana Lapina 7, Hugh Donlon 2, Travis Hayashi 2, Kyle Lagana 11, Zion Shepherd 8, Robert Thompson 2, Jacen Kimura 5, Cameron Hersh 2.
3-point goals: STL 1 (Nunuha); MPI 5 (Coito, Lapina, Lagana 3)
