To stay with defending champion ‘Iolani, Waiakea coach Paul Lee needed a perfect scenario.

The Raiders made sure it wouldn’t happen, routing the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion 70-37 in quarterfinal play of the Snapple/HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships.

A mostly quiet crowd of about 500 watched at McKinley Student Council Gymnasium as the Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up went on an 11-2 run to close the first quarter and never looked back.

Guard Justin Genovia scored nine of his 11 points in the first half, and Cole Hogland scored seven of his nine points in the first quarter as the Raiders advanced to today’s semifinal round. They will meet top-seeded Kahuku at McKinley at 5 p.m.

“You see the potential for four Division I (college) players, some speedy defensive football players,” ‘Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto said.

The Raiders outrebounded the visitors 41-20. ‘Iolani shot 55 percent from the field (28-for-51).

Defensively, the Raiders suffocated the Warriors, limiting them to 29 percent field-goal shooting (13-for-45). The strategy was to smother Waiakea’s returning all-state guard, Calvin Mattos, all night. He played on an injured ankle.

“The game plan was to corral him and make him work hard,” said ‘Iolani senior center Hugh Hogland, who finished with eight points, five rebounds and three assists in 13 minutes of play.

“That one run at the end of the first quarter was tough,” Lee said. “The way ‘Iolani plays benefits him, but he had no lift on that ankle. He toughed it out. Dean (Shimamoto) is smart. He kept bringing fresh defenders on Calvin. We needed our other guys to step up.”

Helam Baldomero and the rest of the backcourt took turns covering Mattos, a shifty and savvy playmaker who shoots with either hand. Mattos finished with 13 points, six boards, four dimes and seven steals.

“I tried to explain to the team that he’s always at the right speed, never too fast or too slow,” Shimamoto said. “He has a James Harden-ish kind of game.”

Mattos was 5-for-5 at the foul line and 4-for-11 from the field. In addition, Waiakea center Jaden Opiana went down with an ankle injury early in the second quarter and didn’t return.

“After him, our next guy is 5-9,” Lee said of Opiana, who is listed at 5-11.

Waiakea led 6-5 after Mattos scored on a wing jumper and again after one of his steals. The Raiders, platooning five in and five out for most of the night, took a 7-6 lead on reserve guard Ryan Van Cantfort’s mid-range jumper and never trailed again.

The first unit extended the lead to 16-8 by the end of the first quarter, and the second group kept stretching it until the Raiders had a 29-14 lead after Frank Felix hit a straightaway 3. The first unit returned and continued to bust Waiakea’s 2-3 zone, increasing the lead to 33-14 on Kawika Lee’s bucket late in the second quarter.

Felix scored a team-high 13 points off the bench. Cole Hogland added nine points.

Waiakea got no closer than 14 the rest of the night as Shimamoto gave his reserves major playing time. No starter played more than 15 minutes. ‘Iolani had played seven games in a 10-day stretch by the time it beat Moanalua in the opening round on Monday.

“My body’s really feeling it,” Hugh Hogland said. “Getting rest helps.”

Kahuku 87, Kalaheo 45

In case anyone wondered whether top-seeded Kahuku would get complacent after a first-round bye, it just isn’t so.

Defensive stopper Kesi Ah-Hoy showed off some long-range skill, scoring all 17 of his points in the first half, and Dan Fotu had 16 points by intermission as the Red Raiders dominated the Mustangs. Fotu finished with 18 points and eight rebounds.

Samuta Avea roared back from a quiet first half with three thunderous slams in the third quarter, including two off alley-oop lobs by Jessiya Villa.

It was, as often is the case with Kahuku, a Red Raider runaway from the opening tip. Kahuku got four quick points from Fotu, and then Ah-Hoy hit the first of his three opening-quarter triples.

“That was our plan. We wanted Kesi to shoot,” Kalaheo coach Rob Pardini said. “It’s the same as last time. We got down big early and you can’t compete with these guys if you don’t match their intensity.”

The plan made sense, with help defense sagging into the lane every time Villa and Avea touched the ball. Kahuku jumped to a 13-0 lead, and by the time Ah-Hoy banked in a 3 from the left wing, Kahuku had a 23-9 lead late in the first quarter.

Ah-Hoy hustled on the offensive glass in the second quarter to get his points.

Avea, who had two points, three boards, two assists, two steals and a block in the first half, wanted more.

“I didn’t have a good first half. I came out with energy after halftime,” the 6-6 senior said.

Avea scored 13 points in the third, including a corner 3, as Kahuku opened the lead to 72-29. He finished with 15 points, seven caroms and two dimes. Villa tallied 12 points, five boards and seven assists.

Captain Whitlock led Kalaheo (11-5) with 13 points. Kahuku’s relentless man defense limited the senior to 5-for-19 shooting from the field.

Kahuku shot 51 percent from the field (35-for-69) as reserves got the bulk of playing time in the second half for coach Brandyn Akana’s squad.