DENNIS ODA/DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Iolani's Zach Tollefson shot over Fairfax Lions' Joshua Shipp in an Iolani Classic game last night.
A year after getting a scare from Iolani, Fairfax (Los Angeles) didn't afford the Raiders any dreams of an upset in this year's Iolani Prep Classic as the Lions defeated the host team 58-40 in a quarterfinal game last night. Iolani no match for Fairfax
By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com"We had a lot of guys who played in that game and remember the type of high-intensity game it was," Fairfax coach Harvey Kitani said. "We did a good job of not going up and down (the court) to the point where we made mistakes."
The Lions advance to face No. 14 Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) in a semifinal matchup at 8 tonight. The game is a rematch of last year's classic final, which Fairfax pulled out in the final minute.
Franklin (Seattle, Wash.) plays No. 2 Miami Christian in the other semifinal at 6:30 p.m.
Iolani will face Lincoln (Portland, Ore.) in a fifth-place bracket game at 5 p.m.
The Lions silenced an overflow crowd at Iolani Gym with big plays from their big men. Jamal Boykin, a 6-foot-7 sophomore, led Fairfax with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. Senior forward Alex Bausley added 11 points and eight rebounds.
As a team, Fairfax dominated the boards, grabbing 30 to Iolani's 18 and the Lions sliced apart the Iolani defense with interior passing.
"(Boykin) played a good game, and the guys did a good job of finding him," Kitani said.
With Fairfax's big men clogging the paint, Iolani resorted to outside jumpers for most of its offense. But the Raiders went cold for most of the game as they hit 15 of 48 field-goal attempts.
Iolani guard Derrick Low outscored counterpart Kevin Bell, leading Iolani with 13 points. But Bell did his damage by orchestrating the Fairfax offense and feeding Boykin and Bausley for easy buckets.
The Raiders stayed close early and trailed 14-10 after the first quarter. But Fairfax opened up a 27-18 lead at halftime and kept the Raiders at bay the rest of the way.
"(Iolani's) a good team and I'm sure they'll do well in their season," Kitani said.
No. 14 Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) 72, Lincoln (Portland, Ore.) 48: Linas Kleiza scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the first half as the Mustangs blew past the Cardinals and into the semifinals.
Fred Robinson added 16 points for Montrose Christian. Omar Leary led Lincoln with 13 points, LaTravis Turner added 11.
