Nihoa Dunn poured in 21 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as top1-ranked Kamehameha escaped with a 61-55 win over No. 3 ‘Iolani at Father Bray Athletic Complex on Tuesday night.
Clinging to a 53-51 lead, Kamehameha got four foul shots from point guard Rylee Paranada and 2-for-4 shooting at the line by Rylee Cabuyado-Caswell in the final two minutes to ice the win.
Free-throw shooting was instrumental for the visiting Warriors. Dunn was stellar, 9-for-11, and Paranada was 4-for-4. As a team, Kamehameha shot 18-for-21 at the charity stripe (86%) and needed every point.
“ ‘Iolani is always competitive, always ready to fight with us. They executed pretty well,” Paranada said. “They always have a good game plan against us and always give us tough competition when we come out here. It’s harder when they have their crowd, Raider Nation yelling.”
‘Iolani was a solid 9-for-12 at the foul line (75%).
Sophomore guard Justice Kekauoha was superb with 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field. Rayah Soriano added 10 points, shooting 4-for-12 against Kamehameha’s tough man-to-man defense. Mia Frye chipped in seven points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists.
“We did better as a team in the second half. We picked it up,” Kekauoha said. “We’re taking steps in the right direction.”
Kamehameha improved to 8-0 in ILH play (23-3 overall), while ‘Iolani (19-8) slipped to 3-4 in league action. The Warriors had already clinched first place in the regular season to earn an automatic state-tournament berth, but the home team played with an intensity worthy of a state championship game.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re playing our best basketball we can,” Kamehameha coach Pua Straight said. “We definitely have depth, so we try to tap into that every game. In the fourth quarter, we found a group that we liked and with the amount of timeouts that were called, they got enough rest and we stuck with them.”
The visiting Warriors had no choice but to sharpen their passing against a tenacious ‘Iolani full-court press in the fourth quarter.
“In that fourth-quarter stretch, ‘Iolani was hungry. Mia Frye was flying out of nowhere (for steals). Their pressure definitely helped them come back. We took a couple of deep breaths and got our composure,” Straight said.
Five-time defending state champion ‘Iolani looked like a team that is beginning to peak. They made Dunn work. She shot 6-for-13 from the field against a litany of double teams.
“We tried to go small and play man today. Our goal was to make Nihoa guard someone (on the perimeter). Make her run, tire her out. But she’s too big, too tall, too strong,” ‘Iolani coach Dean Young said. “Our whole mentality, every game we learn something. We’re getting a little smarter, a little better. Figuring out what works and doesn’t work, and hopefully try and catch (Kamehameha).”
Dunn, a 6-foot-1 junior, missed her first two shots from the field but still had six points and four rebounds before taking a rest with three minutes left in the first quarter. Her three-point play in the post extended Kamehameha’s lead to 12-4.
She returned late in the quarter and scored inside on a feed from Pomai Nakamura to give the visitors a 19-10 lead.
Soriano opened the second half with her first trey of the game, cutting the lead to 31-25. Kamehameha went on an 8-2 run to regain control. The Warriors took a 42-33 lead going into the fourth quarter.
‘Iolani went back to full-court pressure and got a 3-pointer and an elbow jumper by Kekauoha, cutting the lead to 44-42 with 6:07 remaining. Flying all over the court, diving to deflect passes — Frye landed in the bleachers after going parallel to the ground for a leaping deflection that led to a Raiders basket. However, a potential go-ahead 3 by Kekauoha was wiped away by an offensive foul by Hailey Fernandez away from the ball.
Dunn then rebounded over Kekauoha for a putback, and then fed Makenzie Alapai for an open corner 3, opening Kamehameha’s lead to 51-44 with 4:15 remaining.
The Raiders persisted and cut the lead to 53-51 on a pass from Kekauoha to Fernandez for a layup with 2:54 to go.
The Warriors put the win away with free throws.
“It’s something you expect out of ‘Iolani. We’ve just got to deal with the pressure, use ball fakes, stop with the lob passes,” Dunn said. “We were getting a little bit complacent, but we got the energy back and crisped up our passes.”
ILH boys
No. 5 University 51, No. 9 ‘Iolani 50
Koa Laboy, playing on his birthday, scored on a putback to beat the buzzer as the Jr. ’Bows rallied from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit for the win.
Laboy was waiting on the left block as teammate Alika Ahu drove into the middle of the key and missed a tough layup in traffic. The ball fell Laboy’s way for an uncontested follow shot on his 18th birthday. He even got his driver’s license before the game.
“It was a good attack by Alika,” Laboy said.
Trey Ambrozich led ULS (14-9, 4-3 ILH) with 16 points. Laboy finished with nine.
Declan Beckette led ‘Iolani (12-10, 2-4) with 17 points. Ayden Goo added 12 and Aidan Wong had nine.
It was ULS’ first game at ‘Iolani in three years, when the Jr. ’Bows lost to ‘Iolani in a preseason rout.
“We got smoked by 70 points,” said Laboy, who was a freshman on that University team. “We played against JJ (Mandaquit). All these guys (on ULS’ team) were in eighth grade. I remember their press. We couldn’t get the ball past halfcourt.”
On Tuesday, ULS went ahead for the first time since the first quarter, 49-48, on a 3-pointer by Kenna Quitan with 19 seconds remaining.
Beckette scored a layup on an inbounds lob pass from halfcourt for a 50-49 lead with nine seconds left.
