There was barking in the dim lighting outside the gym.
It was simply the sound of a new champion at the ‘Iolani Prep Classic. After getting revved up with several minutes of mobile stretching and unified chanting and barking, Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.) left no doubt in an 88-79 win over Etiwanda (Calif.) to capture the crown on Saturday night.
Olivia Jones, a 6-foot junior, led the Crusaders with 30 points on 13-for-18 field-goal shooting. That included an efficient 3-for-4 from the 3-point arc. She added five rebounds, three assists, a block, a steal and just one turnover.
“I think resilience is the word that we spoke about today,” Long Island Lutheran coach Christina Raiti said, wearing a “Dawg Energy” T-shirt along with her staff. “Just being able to withstand their runs. They’re a tremendous basketball team, and then counteract with our own runs. Not putting our heads down after (their) scores, but continuing to do what we do. It’s a culture and a lifestyle. They learn it when they come here. To be great, they have to buy into the defensive side of things. Those are the stats I’m most proud of — defense and rebounding.”
Center Savannah Swords, named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, was key with 18 points and seven rebounds before leaving the game in the second half with a knee injury.
“She is just one of the toughest kids, if not the toughest, I’ve coached in my time,” Raiti said.
Emily McDonald added 15 points, hitting four treys, and six assists, while Taylor Brown withstood a fierce Etiwanda defense with 16 points and five assists. They finished 12-for-23 from the arc (52%), while Etiwanda was 8-for-25 (32%).
The Crusaders took every heavyweight knockout blow possible from Etiwanda and bounced back. Eagles guard Aliyahna Morris, a 5-foot-5 senior, towered as a force of nature. She scored 28 of her 38 points in the second half and was named the tournament Most Outstanding Player.
“She knocked down a ton of high-level shots. She was tremendous today. We were able to joke afterward and she joked she owed us one from last year,” Raiti said. “Relentless. We had a hand up in her face and threw some different looks at her. We took the ball out of her hands on some important possessions.”
When the teams met in the Northeast last season, Long Island Lutheran won 82-62. Morris isn’t kidding when she says she would love for her team to play the Crusaders again.
“I’m a little disappointed that we lost, but I feel that we’re getting better each and every game. That’s the most important thing for us,” said Morris, who will play for Cal next year. “We’re still waiting for playoffs. We have a lot more games. Hopefully, we do get another opportunity. I would love to play them again. They’re a great team and they definitely challenged us tonight.”
Grace Knox added 13 points and eight boards but struggled from the field (4-for-15). Aliyah Phillips tallied 12 points and seven caroms.
“I’m proud of our girls. (Long Island Lutheran) is a great team and they bring in a lot of players who play at a high level,” Etiwanda coach Stan Delus said. “We started off slow, but our girls fought. To be down 20 and continue to keep fighting all the way through, that shows character of my team. That’s going to help us when we get back home.”
Etiwanda entered the tournament with an almost brand-new starting five from last year’s team, which finished No. 1 in ESPN’s rankings. The Eagles are currently No. 1 in The Sporting News preseason rankings. Long Island Lutheran is No. 9 by TSN.
MaxPreps has Etiwanda at No. 9 with Long Island Lutheran unranked.
After a pregame ritual outside the gym, the Crusaders were ready to roll.
Jones was busy with a fast-break layup, an elbow jumper and, after a block by Swords, went coast to coast to score the first six points of the game.
McDonald cranked up a left-corner 3, and Swords hit a trailer-3 from the top. After McDonald splashed another corner 3, Long Island Lutheran was up 15-8 with 3:48 to play in the opening quarter.
The Eagles called time out, but McDonald was on a rampage, knocking down a corner 3 from the other side for an 18-8 lead.
After Swords hustled for a putback, the Crusaders had their biggest lead, 20-9.
Brown dished to Zaniyah Williams in transition for her first 3-pointer, giving Long Island Lutheran a 23-10 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter. Brown scored uncontested on a hesitation move in the lane and it was 25-11.
A 3 by Morris cut the margin to 25-14 before the end of the quarter.
Jones was at it again to start the second quarter with another left-handed drive and finish, and after McDonald drilled another corner 3, the Crusaders were in command, 30-14. In an instant, however, momentum switched sides.
With only one rotation substitution, Long Island Lutheran went cold from the field, 1-for-6, while the resilient Eagles soared. Grace Knox attacked the paint and scored four points during a 10-2 run, cutting the lead to 32-24 with 3:47 left in the second quarter.
The extended TV timeout came in the nick of time for the Crusaders, but it did not slow the Eagles down. A follow shot by Morris and a corner 3 by Aliyah Phillips kept the run alive, cutting the lead to 34-29.
Looking exhausted by the 14-2 run, the Eagles slowed while the Crusaders got their second wind. Long Island Lutheran closed the first half with an 11-4 run for a 45-33 edge at the half.
It was a live 16-minute demonstration of the best in opportunistic, long-ball slinging modern and unselfish old-school basketball. Non-stop cutting, non-stop sprinting in transition, and rugged man-to-man defense against a talented, young Etiwanda squad.
Then, turnovers began to plague the Crusaders, three in the first 3 minutes of the second half by Brown. Meanwhile, Morris stepped up with eight points as the Eagles closed the gap to 52-45 with 4 minutes left in the third quarter.
Moments later, center Kelis Hawkins’ putback cut the lead to 54-49. As it was in the first half, that five-point margin proved to be a ceiling the Eagles couldn’t get through. Long Island Lutheran closed the third quarter with a 14-5 run.
Morris was relentless off the dribble with 13 points in the quarter, but the 5-5 point guard saw her mid-range jumper get roofed by Jones, a 6-foot defender, and Brown scored easily as the Crusaders stretched the lead to 68-54 going into the fourth quarter.
Swords went down after driving into the paint, clutching her left knee with 7:44 remaining. The Crusaders went on a 10-4 run with a pull-up 3 by Brown and back-to-back treys by Jones. They led 78-58 with 5:49 to go.
Etiwanda senior guard Shaena Brew suffered a leg injury with 5:39 left and was carried off the court.
Etiwanda never quit, unleashing a fullcourt press and cutting the lead to 15 in the final 2 minutes, but it was too late.
“We’re still a work in progress, but people still need to watch out for us when we get to playoffs. Our schedule is like no other,” Delus said. “We’re going to be so battle-tested that our early losses will catch up to people.”
Third place
Pinewood (Calif.) 67, No. 2 ‘Iolani 36
Vallory Kuelker scored 19 points and Katherine Garr tallied 18 for the Panthers (3-1). Caitlyn Kramer had 12 points and Jolyn Ding added nine.
Freshman Rayah Soriano led the Raiders (11-3) with eight points. Hailey Fernandez, the 3-point shootout winner, and Justice Kekauoha added seven points each.
Fifth place
No. 7 Hanalani 50, No. 9 Mililani 34
A rare matchup of Division II Hanalani of the ILH and D-I Mililani of the OIA finished with a Royal touch for Central Oahu basketball fans. Ellana Klemp scored 20 points and Piha‘eu Akiona added 11 for Hanalani (9-4).
Akemi Kawamata led the Trojans (8-8) with eight points.
Seventh place
No. 6 Punahou 36, No. 8 Hawaii Baptist 25
Zaraiyah Wright led the Buffanblu (5-7) with eight points.
Lauren Okuda led the Eagles with (12-4) with 11 points. Hallie Chock added nine points.
