Hunter Marumoto scored 18 points and Zion Milare added 16, including three treys, as No. 1 Maryknoll escaped with a 46-43 win over No. 4 ‘Iolani on Saturday night at Father Bray Athletic Center.
Marumoto sank two free throws with 15.6 seconds left for a 44-40 lead.
Akila Indalecio’s bank-shot 3 brought the Raiders within 44-43 with 1.8 seconds to go.
Rome Lilio’s two free throws with 1.2 seconds left closed out the scoring. Indalecio’s prayer shot fell short at the buzzer.
The visiting Spartans improved to 3-0 in ILH play (20-2 overall). ‘Iolani dropped to 2-1 (14-7).
“We’re 3-0 on three away games. I was telling my coaching staff, best-case scenario, we’re shooting for 2-1,” Spartans coach Kelly Grant said. “We’re fortunate. No real injuries. A lot of our boys executing. Zion was solid in the first half. Hunter hit some big shots today. On those transition, catching and shooting, he’s shooting 50 percent.”
Justin Yap chipped in eight points for the Spartans, who were in an unusual role as a smaller starting lineup. ‘Iolani began the game with three bigs on the floor: 6-foot-5 Kaimana Lau Kong, 6-5 Casey Lyons and 6-5 Luke Tobin. With starting guard Taniela Taliauli out with an injury, it was an effective alternative.
“I thought they were going to play two (bigs). If Justin is going to play at the next level, he’s got to be able to hit shots on guys like that,” Grant added.
Guard Aidan Wong led the Raiders with 16 points, while Lau Kong added 11. Lyons tallied nine points.
After the first half, it felt like a Maryknoll home crowd.
“The girls played before us and they all stuck around. Both teams are real close,” Grant noted. “It was nice.”
The Spartans trailed by five early, chipped away and got a steal by Micah Kubo in the final seconds of the first half. Milare cashed in with a 26-foot jumper from straightaway to beat the buzzer. That gave the visitors a 23-21 edge at intermission.
The Raiders were within 37-32, but an offensive board by Yap and a pass from Milare to Muramoto for a 3 opened the lead to eight points with 5:04 remaining.
With four minutes left, the Spartans continued to attack out of their deliberate offensive sets while mixing defenses.
“You kind of stay in one thing way too long, so I had to change things up. We went to a man set, then a zone set, then a man set. Justin hit some shots with guys in his face, so that was big,” Grant said. “When it’s all said and done, you just want to be up one point at the end.”
‘Iolani cut the lead to 40-38, but Yap hit a pull-up 15-footer on the left baseline for a four-point lead with 2:10 left. Lyons missed the front side of a 1-and-1, and the Raiders missed a layup in transition, but Lau Kong’s reverse layup sliced the margin to 42-40 with1:22 to go.
Wong stole the ball from Yap on a reach from behind, but his hang-time layup in the lane missed with 31.6 seconds left.
Maryknoll will host three games next week: Mid-Pacific on Tuesday, Saint Louis on Thursday and Punahou on Saturday.
‘Iolani will visit Saint Louis on Tuesday, Punahou on Thursday and Kamehameha on Saturday.
