Sweet 16, indeed.
Jovi Lefotu and Jaety Mandaquit scored 16 points each as top-seeded ‘Iolani outlasted a resilient Campbell squad 54-39 on Friday night.
Two-time defending state champion ‘Iolani (15-2 overall) will square off with perennial powerhouse Konawaena for the Division I crown of the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships tonight at Blaisdell Arena.
“I’m so happy for this team, how hard they worked and sticking together,” ‘Iolani coach Dean Young said. “Being so inexperienced. Most of them, it’s their first time in the state tournament. To get back to the championship game is outstanding.”
Abby Tanaka drilled three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points, while reserve post Callie Pieper added eight points for the ILH champion Raiders. ‘Iolani was able to utilize Mandaquit and Lefotu in crucial possessions as scorers on the block.
“They look for those mismatches, do some work in there,” Young said. “Our posts are so inexperienced and young, so they’re not ready to dominate the paint even though they have good size. It’s nice to have guards who can put pressure on the paint like that.”
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Aliyah Bantolina had 10 points and Sydney Patanapaiboon tallied 10 for OIA champion Campbell (14-3).
Each team deployed fullcourt and extended halfcourt pressure, but neither was able to build much momentum off takeaways. Because Campbell handled ‘Iolani’s pressure with a modicum of success, the Sabers hung in there and stayed within six to eight points for most of the game.
‘Iolani won their preseason game at Campbell on Dec. 20, 59-27. Lefotu was recovering from an injury at the time, but the Sabers proved to be a much-improved team under coach Jazmine Corpuz. Lefotu’s stellar play on Friday — she also had eight rebounds, four steals and three assists — were crucial.
“I’m tired. Happy. We’re moving on tomorrow. Excited. It was a tough one. Campbell came out aggressive and we had to come out battling with the same energy as them,” Lefotu said.
In this era, ‘Iolani and Konawaena are cornerstones in girls basketball. Konawaena and ‘Iolani met for the state title in 2012, a game won by the Wildcats, and again for the crown in ’20. ‘Iolani won that matchup 55-46 and has not faced the Wildcats since.
“I was expecting Konawaena to be really disciplined and they’re really coached well by Auntie Bobbie (Awa) and them,” said Lefotu, who recently signed with Hawaii. “From what we saw, they look good. It’s going to be a tough one tomorrow.”
With a large and vocal Campbell contingent at Moanalua gym, ‘Iolani operated like a machine and zoomed to a 15-4 lead late in the first quarter as Lefotu hit two field goals and shot 4-for-4 at the free-throw line.
‘Iolani stretched the lead to 20-8 after a corner 3 by Tanaka, but the Sabers refused to back down. They stuck with tough man-to-man defense and crawled back in with buckets by Bantolina, Vaelua Fatu and Taysia Molina-Shulte.
With the lead down to 20-14, ‘Iolani answered with a low-post basket by Mandaquit and another by Lefotu. After Mandaquit drove for a tough deuce in traffic, the Raiders went into the half with a 26-18 lead.
The game was called fairly tightly and both teams marched to the foul line often in the third quarter. ‘Iolani led 41-30 going into the final quarter.
Campbell got within 45-36 on a Bantolina free throw but could not get an open look from the 3-point arc. The Sabers had zero 3-point attempts in the fourth quarter.
