Camy Aguinaldo scored 18 points and Skylar Nakata added 12 as ‘Iolani rallied from an 11-point deficit for a 51-42 win over Punahou on Thursday night.
The win lifted the Raiders to 4-2 in Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls basketball play. Now 9-4 overall, all four losses have been to nationally-ranked teams or Hawaii’s No. 1 team, Maryknoll. Punahou dropped to 2-3 in league play (7-4 overall).
The week gets a bit busier for ‘Iolani, which flies to the Nike Tournament of Championships on Friday. The prestigious tournament begins on Monday in Phoenix, Ariz. Over the weekend, they had three games in the ‘Iolani Classic.
“We played five games in seven days,” said Nakata, a senior guard who has the job of covering centers defensively.
She shared team-high honors with six rebounds. Taylor Wu added six points, six rebounds and three dimes for ‘Iolani.
“We had some fatigue. We’ve played a ton of games,” Raiders coach Dean Young said, referring to early deficits of 10-0 and 25-14. “The main thing was that we needed to settle down and try to be a little more patient on offense.”
Punahou was led by Abigail Aplaca’s 11 points and seven rebounds. The Buffanblu got nine points from Tanisha Elbourne, a former Radford player who sat out last season after transferring.
It doesn’t get easier for Punahou in the rough ILH schedule. Maryknoll awaits next Wednesday.
“We stepped forward in spurts. We played our game and maintained possession. We didn’t rush shots,” Buffanblu coach Liz Kam said of the first half, which ended with her team ahead 28-21. “Our girls came out flat (in the second half). They were very patient and Camy was very stable.”
As they did in a tight battle with Kamehameha two nights earlier, the Raiders came up with defensive stops in the second half to turn the tide for good. The visitors opened the second half with an 11-0 run, sparked by the two seniors, Nakata and Aguinaldo. Nakata hit a baseline jumper on a pass from Aguinaldo, and Wu hustled for a follow shot to bring ‘Iolani within three points. After Tori Lynn Maeda sent a perfect bounce pass to a cutting Aguinaldo for a layup, the lead was down to one.
Nakata hustled after her own missed layup for a putback and free throw, giving the Raiders their first lead of the game, 30-28. Aguinaldo’s steal and layup boosted the Raiders’ lead to four.
Punahou got a wing 3 from Elbourne and a foul-line jumper from Aplaca to regain the lead, 33-32.
After Emily Nomura scored on a drive for ‘Iolani, the Raiders never trailed again. Kawai Kahalehoe’s buzzer-beater from the right elbow made it 36-33 at the end of the third quarter.
Kahalehoe and Maeda were key to ‘Iolani’s defense. While the rest of the Raiders were in halfcourt man-to-man, Maeda and Kahalehoe took turns covering Punahou’s regular-season leading scorer, Kamaile Kandiah, from end to end.
Kandiah scored nine points in the first half, but managed to get just three field-goal attempts after halftime and was scoreless in the second half. The senior guard finished with nine points, three rebounds and three assists.
‘Iolani stretched its lead to 41-33 after Nomura stole the ball and fed Kahalehoe for a corner 3, and Aguinaldo drove for another layup against Punahou’s man defense.
The Buffanblu chipped away, getting a wing 3 from Elbourne and a free throw by Elle Uyeda to pull within 41-38 with 3:48 to go. They got no closer.
