Tori Lynn Maeda had her first state tournament appearance in her grasp.
‘Iolani’s junior point guard calmly sank nine of 10 free throws in the final 44 seconds and scored all 13 of the Raiders’ points in the fourth quarter of a 48-44 win over visiting No. 6 Kamehameha on Monday night.
No. 4 ‘Iolani (8-3) advanced to the final of the ILH second-round tournament against Maryknoll, clinching the league’s second state berth after the top-ranked Spartans’ 64-43 win over Sacred Hearts. ‘Iolani will play at Maryknoll tonight at 6 needing a win to keep the Spartans from clinching the ILH title.
The Raiders last appeared in states in 2013, advancing to the semifinals.
“We’re ecstatic,” ‘Iolani coach Dean Young said. “This team has bought in to what we are trying to do and you can see it on the court. This team, with how good their attitudes have been all season, deserves to go to states.”
The Raiders opened the regular season with a loss to Kamehameha, but have won the last three meetings against the Warriors, including a tiebreaker last week to earn the right to host Monday’s game.
‘Iolani led by as many as 11 in the first half, but watched Kamehameha pull within two points five different times in the fourth quarter.
Kalina Obrey’s bucket with 2:20 remaining cut the Raiders’ lead to 39-37. The score remained that way until Maeda attempted her first free throws with 43.3 seconds on the clock. She coolly hit both of those and added seven more to keep Kamehameha from pulling even.
“I was just trying to make them for everyone on the team,” said Maeda, who added four rebounds and two assists. “We’ve worked really hard this season and it paid off for us. It’s my first time (in states) and it’s a great feeling.”
Taylor Wu added four 3-pointers for the Raiders, who slowed down the tempo midway through the third quarter after putting up a barrage of 3-pointers in the first half.
‘Iolani went scoreless for nearly seven minutes in the second half, allowing Kamehameha to pull within one possession.
The Warriors switched up their defense and tried to foul someone other than Maeda, but the Raiders committed only two turnovers in the second half and got the right players to the free-throw line.
“We’re always trying to force (the ball) out of their point guard’s hands down the stretch,” Kamehameha coach Joe Cho said. “She made (free throws). We didn’t.”
The Warriors started the season 5-1 but lost four of their final seven games.
Obrey finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds and Kiana Vierra had a game-high 16 points.
‘Iolani’s Lily Lefotu Wahinekapu chipped in four points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists.
The Raiders led 46-42 with three seconds remaining when Vierra was fouled attempting a shot just past the half-court line. She missed the first free throw and made the second when Cho called timeout.
Kamehameha didn’t have any left, so Vierra made her last free throw before Maeda drilled two technical free throws with 0.6 seconds left for the final margin.
