‘Iolani’s blistering start on Tuesday propelled the Raiders to a win over Saint Louis and set up a rematch of a game that created considerable buzz around the state last month.
‘Iolani hit its first five shots from the field and held Saint Louis to seven points in the first half on its way to a 50-30 home win over the Crusaders in the first round of the ILH Division I boys basketball tournament.
The Raiders advanced to a semifinal matchup with ILH regular-season champion Maryknoll tonight at the Spartans’ T.C. Ching Gymnasium.
The last meeting between the Raiders and Spartans generated spirited discussion over the slowdown tactics that ultimately produced a 15-13 Maryknoll win.
‘Iolani slowed the pace of that meeting, went into halftime down 2-0 and had a shot to win the game at the buzzer. So the Raiders’ approach tonight with their season on the line figures to bear watching.
“I think we know we can play with them. We know certain things were effective against them,” ‘Iolani head coach Dean Shimamoto said. “We’ll have a game plan ready to go.”
The Raiders’ execution early in Tuesday’s game spurred them to a controlling lead against Saint Louis. ‘Iolani hit six of seven field-goal attempts in the first quarter and went 11-for-16 in the first half to build a
24-7 lead going into halftime.
“We’ve struggled offensively for most of the year, so for us to come out and take good shots and be able to hit those shots was really important for our confidence,” Shimamoto said.
Saint Louis went 3-for-19 from the field in the first half and warmed up a bit in the second half. But the Crusaders would get no closer than 13 points and ‘Iolani went 10-for-14 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to maintain a comfortable lead.
Saint Louis coach Keith Spencer said the Crusaders had hoped to keep the game in the 40s and were on that pace into the fourth quarter.
“However we just didn’t hit our shots,” Spencer said.
‘Iolani junior Chris Gallacher led all scorers with 10 points and senior Drew Uchiyama finished with seven as part of a balanced ‘Iolani attack in which 10 players scored at least three points.
Nate Mantanona led Saint Louis with nine points.
‘Iolani’s hopes of playing in the state tournament rest on winning the ILH tournament and earning the league’s second berth. One spot already belongs to Maryknoll, which had a bye on Tuesday.
At ‘Iolani
Saint Louis 2 5 14 9 — 30
‘Iolani 12 12 14 12 — 50
SAINT LOUIS—Jimmy Nunuha III 2, Kevin Marks 0, Joshua Bermudez 0, Ihaka Johnson 6, Nate Mantanona 9, Jedadiah Luu 1 Colton Nascimento 0, Jaron Hall-Monis 6, Elijah Robb 0, Robert Sawinski 6, Spencer Johnson 0.
‘IOLANI—Andrew Okimura 3, Drew Uchiyama 7, Reece Foy 4, Ikaika Phillip 3, Nick Yim 1, Chris Gallacher 10, Marc Ma 3, Trey Kidd 3, Zach Buscher 6, Erik Yamada 6, John Lee 0, Josiah Situmeang 4, Adrian Kwok 0, Kamu Borden 0.
3-point goals—Saint Louis 2 (I.Johnson, Mantanona). ‘Iolani 3 (Uchiyama, Phillip, Gallacher).
ILH D-II BOYS TOURNAMENT
Damien 70, IPA 35
Guards Kapiina King and Ashton Obrero scored 16 points each as the Monarchs beat the Navigators in a game shortened after an apparent head injury to Island Pacific’s Jason Brenner, who was taken to the hospital on a stretcher.
Brenner, who scored a game-high 21 points, fell and hit his head after he was fouled with 3:43 to play. Unable to shoot free throws, he was sent to the bench, where he fainted.
Coaches for the two teams agreed to end the game at that point.
Damien plays University on Thursday, time and site to be deterimined.
At Damien
Island Pacific 2 11 10 12 — 35
Damien 20 18 16 16 — 70
ISLAND PACIFIC—Jason Brenner 21, Harvey Alexander 5, Michael Brenner 1, Brett Arakawa 4, Ian Schumaker 4, Eric Longanecker 0, Brian Arde 0.
DAMIEN—Noah Ferreira 0, Syles Choy 2, Kobe Ikari 0, Aaron Miyahira 0, Jaylen Layco 6, Linden Quintal 2, Kapiina King 16, Marcus Mafi 3, Ashton Obrero 16, Alex Fant 8, Rocky Mori 4, Dobie Ching 11, James Roy 2.
3-point goals—Island Pacific 1 (J. Brenner). Damien 4 (Ching 3, Obrero).
UHS 58, Hanalani 46
Ryan Kaleikini led all scorers with 21 points and Anthony Canencia added 19 as the Junior ’Bows defeated the Royals in the semifinals of the ILH’s single-elimnation tournament for the second berth into the Division II state tournament.
St. Francis, the ILH D-II champion, has already qualified for the states.
At Hanalani
University 22 5 12 19 — 58
Hanalani 10 7 15 14 — 46
UNIVERSITY—Chris Meyer 6, Eric Leung 6, Anthony Canencia 19, Colin Lee 0, Josh Akamine 0, Anson Canencia 0, R.J. Realubit 4, Milton Politano 0, Ryan Kaleikini 21, Matt Lee , Sean Mahiko 2, Matthew Lee 0, Reece Alvarado 0.
HANALANI—Lucas Leaman 13, Michael Milton 17, John Brady 2, Jordan Ebisu 0, Logan Oyama 0, Nicholas Milone 0, Zane Pantil 0, Jesse Tory 1, Conner Kaneshiro 0, Chas Kubo 0, Jeff Schaake 3, Tyler Cruz 0, Isaac Liva 10, Colby Schoniwitz 0, Scott Fujiwara 0, Duane Teem 0, Kody Fahrni 0.
3-point goals—University 3 (Kaleikini 2, Ant. Canencia). Hanalani 4 (Leaman 2, Milton, Schaake).
ILH
Division I-AA boys
Punahou 62, Maryknoll 50
