The ‘Iolani Raiders are back in the state championships.
Leading by one point in the third quarter, the four-time defending state champions went on a 17-3 run to rout No. 2 Kamehameha 56-36 on Saturday afternoon at Father Bray Athletic Complex.
‘Iolani (21-3 overall) improved to 7-0 in ILH play, clinching first place and the league’s automatic state-tournament berth.
“I feel awesome. That’s just part of the stress we don’t have to deal with, knowing that we’ve qualified for states no matter what,” ‘Iolani coach Dean Young said.
Mia Frye finished with eight points, seven assists and five rebounds for the well-balanced, top-ranked Raiders. Keiki McGee had a team-high 11 points, while freshman Justice Kekauoha added 10 points and six boards. Center Mele Sake had nine points and six caroms, teaming up with Callie Pieper to battle Kamehameha center Nihoa Dunn on the block.
Dunn shot 4-for-9 from the field and 3-for-6 from the free-throw line. The 6-foot sophomore finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks before resting most of the fourth quarter with her team down by a wide margin. Makenzie Alapai added eight points and six boards for Kamehameha (15-5, 2-3 ILH). Despite the score, it was Kamehameha’s toughest effort against the Raiders in three battles so far.
“Right now, our focus is working on us. Being the best we can be and just relieve the pressure,” Warriors coach Pua Straight said. “The first couple of times, we were a little intimidated.”
Kamehameha still has a shot at the ILH title. The Warriors will need to win the ILH playoffs and force a title game with ‘Iolani.
With ‘Iolani clinging to a 26-25 lead, Frye ignited the pivotal run with back-to-back, coast-to-coast layups. Chelsea Lee came off the bench to knock down a straightaway 3 on a feed from Kekauoha, who splashed a pull-up 3 moments later. By the time the run was done, the Raiders had opened a 43-28 cushion late in the third quarter.
“Chelsea, she’s a sophomore. She has good length, a good shot. Just getting her up to speed IQ-wise. Hopefully, get her a few more minutes, get the starters some rest,” Young said. “We got lucky. We went on a little run there. Our goal in the third quarter was to hold them to single digits. That was our entire focus. When they shifted to zone, we hit those back-to-back 3s.”
Dunn picked up her third foul during the third quarter, and reserve center Kamaka Fonoti was in street clothes on the bench.
With the status of the ILH’s regular-season winner and automatic state-tournament berth still open, Kamehameha came into Saturday’s game in need of wins over ‘Iolani, Punahou on Tuesday and one more victory over the Raiders on Wednesday.
‘Iolani simply needed a win over Kamehameha on Saturday or Wednesday to clinch the berth, one of two allotted to the ILH this season for the Division I state championships. Now, their matchup on Wednesday won’t affect the standings.
“That’s the difficult part, right? We’ve got to play again, the same team in a few days and it’s meaningless. I don’t know. We’ll talk to the coaches and see how we want to approach it,” Young said. “Do we go for the win or do we rest our starters.”
Third-place Punahou will play at Kamehameha next Saturday. The winner will play at ‘Iolani on Jan. 29 for the playoff (round two) title. If necessary, a championship game is scheduled for Jan. 31.
The Division I bracket of the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships is set for Feb. 5 and 7-9. Regional sites are at McKinley and Moanalua. The final day will be at Blaisdell Arena.
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ILH boys
No. 3 Maryknoll 48, No. 6 ‘Iolani 43
Nixis Yamauchi scored 19 points, including two key free throws with 11.2 seconds left, as the Spartans improved to 5-3 in ILH play.
Rome Lilio and Hunter Muramoto tallied nine points each for Maryknoll (20-5 overall)
Nela Taliauli led ‘Iolani with 12 points. Ayden Goo added eight points for the Raiders, who dropped to 2-6 in league play. Four of ‘Iolani’s league losses have been by six points or less.
A 3-pointer by Yamauchi with 5:34 remaining capped a 7-0 run by the Spartans, breaking a 34-all tie.
The Raiders brought the lead down to 44-40. With less than two minutes to go, Taliauli’s 3-point try was long. With 58 seconds on the game clock, Lilio sank a free throw for a five-point Spartans lead.
Goo then swished a corner 3, cutting it to 45-43 with 46.9 seconds left. A charge by Marumoto gave ‘Iolani the ball with 23.1 seconds to go.
After a Maryknoll foul, Yamauchi stole an inbounds pass by Kaleb Tenn. Yamauchi sank two free throws for a 47-43 lead, sealing the win with 11.2 seconds left.
He added one more foul shot with 1.3 seconds to go.
