DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Iolani's Bobby Nash snatched a rebound in front of Baldwin's Akamu Aki as Iolani dominated in this Iolani Classic game.

Iolani starts off
with big victory

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By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com

The Iolani basketball team accomplished its first mission as host of the Iolani Prep Classic by advancing to tonight's quarterfinals with a 79-38 rout of Baldwin yesterday at the Raiders' gym.

With the win, Iolani became the only Hawaii representative in the quarterfinals of the 20th annual holiday tournament. The Raiders take on nationally ranked and defending Classic champion Fairfax (Los Angeles) tonight at 8.

Fairfax, ranked 17th in the country, cruised past Pearl City 96-30 in a first-round game.

The Raiders and Lions met in last year's quarterfinals, with Fairfax pulling out a two-point victory en route to winning the tournament championship.

The game will be preceded by a quarterfinal game between Lincoln (Portland, Ore.) and No. 14 Montrose (Rockville, Md.) at 6:30.

In last night's quarterfinal games, Franklin (Seattle) routed Vincent (Milwaukee) 61-33 and Miami Christian beat Archbishop Carroll (Washington, D.C.) 68-52.

The semifinals are tomorrow at 6:30 and 8 p.m. The winners play for the championship at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Bobby Nash led defending state champion Iolani in yesterday's win over Baldwin with 22 points. Derrick Low scored 12 and Zach Tollefson and Kyle Pape had 10 each. Ten of the 11 players on the Iolani roster scored at least two points.

Cody Nakamura led Baldwin with 11 points.

"The way Iolani is playing, especially with the strength of their bench, I think they're stronger than other years," Baldwin coach Wayne Gushiken said.

Iolani was in control throughout the contest, opening the game by outscoring the Bears 25-6 in the first quarter.

"We got some of the butterflies out and we had a chance to run our offense," Iolani coach Mark Mugiishi said.

Although the Raiders dominated on both ends of the court, Mugiishi said the team will need to be crisper in setting screens on offense in order to knock off a national power.

"We can call it nit-picking, but it's important," Mugiishi said. "If you don't set good screens against a team like Fairfax, nobody's going to be open."

The opening-round game was a learning experience for Baldwin, which has six sophomores and a freshman on its 12-player roster.

"We have such a young team, playing in a tournament like this is only going to help us," Gushiken said. "Even watching some of the other teams is going to help."

No. 17 Fairfax 96, Pearl City 30: Joshua Shipp scored 16 points to lead the Lions.

Quarterfinals

Franklin 61, Vincent 33: Aaron Brooks scored 26 points, and the Quakers put the game away with 19 third-quarter points.

No. 2 Miami Christian 68, Archbishop Carroll 52: Jesus Verdejo poured in 29 points and the Victors used a strong second quarter to pull away.

Tuesday's late result

Montrose 87, Kaimuki 39: Linas Kleiza and Edwin Ofori Attah scored 17 points each as the Mustangs defeated the Bulldogs in a first-round game.

Today's games

Consolation bracket

Baldwin vs. Pearl City, 3:30 p.m.
Siena (Italy) vs. Kaimuki, 5 p.m.

Quarterfinals

Lincoln (Portland, Ore.) vs. Montrose (Rockville, Md.), 6:30 p.m.
Iolani vs. Fairfax (Los Angeles), 8 p.m.

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