KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Saint Louis' Wilson Afoa grabbed this rebound in a crowd last night.
Iolani survived another Interscholastic League of Honolulu opponent last night -- improving its league winning streak to 25 games. Iolani comes back,
tops St. LouisBy Tim Crouse
tcrouse@starbulletin.comThe Raiders beat Saint Louis 52-43 at McCabe Gym to clinch at least a tie for the ILH title.
Iolani improved to 11-0 to take a three-game lead in the standings with three games remaining. The Crusaders are 8-3, tied with Kamehameha for second place.
Iolani struggled in the first half but managed to stay within striking distance. The Raiders went on a 15-4 run midway through the third quarter to take control of the game.
Derrick Low, who was in foul trouble most of the game, led Iolani with 12 points and Ryan Hirata added 11.
Saint Louis was the last ILH team to beat Iolani -- 57-55 in overtime on Feb. 2, 2001. The only other regular-season or postseason loss for the Raiders since then was to Kalaheo in the 2001 state championship game.
With three games left against teams that were 6-24 going into last night, a third consecutive ILH crown seems well within Iolani's grasp.
And it raises the question of whether Low will ever lose again in a Raiders uniform.
The junior guard had an off night shooting, but he and his teammates still did enough to raise Iolani's record to 39-2 since Low stepped onto the court as a freshman.
"Losing is always a possibility; it could go either way for any team," Low said. "But as long as you keep playing hard and keep focused things will fall into place."
Iolani has won 26 regular-season and postseason games in a row -- but that streak could easily have ended last night.
Saint Louis led the entire first half, playing its grinding style, as both teams struggled with their shooting.
Low was 1-for-4 shooting from the field, and uncharacteristically missed all three free-throw attempts he took in the first half.
"It's unusual," he said. "Normally I'll miss one then get it right back, but it just wasn't dropping. It happens."
Low sat out the final 4:25 of the first half after he picked up his third foul.
The Crusaders struggled shooting also but managed to keep the lead. Jason Rivers hit a jumper to give Saint Louis a 9-3 lead in the first quarter, and just before the quarter ended he added a pair of free throws to give the Crusaders a 12-7 lead.
With 5:20 left in the first half, Sean Carney made a steal and passed to Low, who drove in for his lone bucket of the half to pull Iolani within 15-11.
Bobby Nash picked up a loose ball and scored to cut the Raiders' deficit to 17-16 with 2:22 left in the half, but missed a free throw that would have tied the game. Iolani made just six of 14 free throws in the first half.
Desmond Hanohano scored on an offensive putback for Saint Louis to give the Crusaders a 24-20 halftime lead.
The Raiders made just six of 27 shots from the field.
"We have some bad shooting nights sometimes, but it's the great teams that come back from that," Hirata said.
The Crusaders were only slightly better, converting six of 23 shots.
"The calls didn't go the way we wanted, but you're going to have games like that once in a while," Low said. "But we stayed focused and played through it."
Said Iolani coach Mark Mugiishi: "Saint Louis did a great job of coming up with a game plan to grind it to an in-the-paint war and that's not how we play well. In the second half we did a better job of creating a tempo we want to play. We spread the floor, got more open lanes and did a lot better."
Saint Louis took its biggest lead of the game early in the third quarter when Timo Paepule made a basket to put the Crusaders up 30-23.
After that it was all Iolani.
"We were able to get a seven-point lead, but we didn't handle the lead like we should have," Saint Louis coach Delbert Tengan said. "We settled for too many jump shots. We weren't making them and we gave them the opportunity to come back."
The Raiders increased the tempo of the game, started getting turnovers, and turned those Crusader mistakes into transition baskets.
"We knew we needed an up-tempo game to beat these guys, we weren't going to beat them physically," Hirata said. "We knew we needed to push the ball and make things happen.
"Our defense is always great, that helped us out a lot. We got some easy baskets."
Carney scored on a putback to start the comeback. Hirata hit a basket and the ensuing free throw and Low scored on a fastbreak to tie the game at 30 with 4:30 left in the quarter.
Jason Rivers hit a free throw to give the Crusaders their final lead, but after a timeout, Low stole the ball at midcourt and swooped in for a dunk to put Iolani up 32-31. Low ended the run by taking a Hirata steal in for a layup and a 34-31 lead.
After Low sat down with his fourth foul, Vinny Nip came in. He ended the third quarter by kicking the ball out to Kyle Pape, who hit a shot for a 38-34 Iolani lead.
"It's the first time (in the ILH season) he's had foul trouble," Hirata said of Low. "It's hard because everyone is gunning for him. Tonight he helped us out in other ways, he handled the ball, rebounded and played defense."
The Raiders went on a 6-0 run to start the final quarter, with Bobby Nash hitting two shots, to essentially put the game out of reach at 44-34.
"Our bench did a great job," Mugiishi said. "We made one big run while (starters were sitting)."
The Iolani bench outscored Saint Louis' bench 20-6.
At McCabe Gym
Iolani (11-0) 7 13 18 14 -- 52 Saint Louis (8-3) 12 12 10 9 -- 43
IOLANI--Vinny Nip 0, Jon Yasuda 2, Derrick Low 12, Zach Tollefson 6, Ryan Hirata 11, Kyle Pape 10, Sean Carney 2, Bobby Nash 7, Chad Miller 0, Gage Eberlin 0, Todd Blankenship 18.SAINT LOUIS--B.J. Batts 3, Keao Monteilh 2, Doug Adachi 1, Jonah Lakatani 0, Matt Sonoda 0, Desmond Hanohano 14, Jason Rivers 11, Timo Paepule 10, Wilson Afoa 2.
3-point goals -- Iolani 3 (Hirata 2, Pape). Saint Louis 0.
Kamehameha 48, Mid-Pacific 26
In a game characterized by turnovers, the Warriors got the better of the Owls. After an even first quarter, Kamehameha pulled ahead, outscoring Mid-Pacific 17-7 in the second. Eric Shaver and Waika Spencer were the only players to score in double-digits, with 12 and 10.
At Mid-Pacific gym
Kamehameha (8-3) 9 17 9 13 -- 48 Mid-Pacific (2-9) 6 7 5 8 -- 26
KAMEHAMEHA--Jacob Bode 5, Eric Shaver 12, Galen Santana 0, Jarrett Day 4, Caleb Spencer 4, Aaron Kahaloa 3, Kawika Hepa 4, Waika Spencer 10, Aaron Aiu 4, Willy Melemai 2.MID-PACIFIC--Chad Takabuki 0, Ryan Leong 0, Cody Walker 0, Brendan Katahara 2, Josh Mitchell 2, Travis Tyler 2, Chris Perry 4, J.D. Lum 0, Ryan Chun 2, Josh Santos 5, Kyle Sakamoto 0, Kellen Hastie 0, Brandyn McCall 9.
3-point goals -- Kamehameha 3 (Shaver 2, Kahaloa). Mid-Pacific 1 (Santos).
Maryknoll 46, Damien 37
Stacey Wong scored 13 of his 20 points in the first half to help Maryknoll win its homecoming game. Ranson DeCosta led Damien with 11 points, including two 3-pointers.
At Mid-Pacific gym
Damien (4-7) 7 9 6 15 -- 37 Maryknoll (3-8) 12 7 5 22 -- 46
DAMIEN--Ferd Paredes 0, Elwin Gapuz 10, Fuavaa Faualo 0, Kawika Lopez 0, Ranson DeCosta 11, Kaanoi Kalai 4, Soane Sevelo 2, Tevita Williams 0, Fehi Sevelo 5, Brandon Kahale 0, Keoni Steinhoff 5.MARYKNOLL--Tyler Tsukazaki 0, Chris Lum 0, Michael Faria 4, Kawika Calizar 10, Kevin Lee 5, Patrick Torres 0, Westin Lee 6, Michael Serai 0, Stacey Wong 20, Kealakai Hussey 1.
3-point goals -- Damien 2 (DeCosta 2). Maryknoll 2 (Calizar 2).
Punahou 49, University 47
Kasey Ko hit a basket with two seconds left to help the Buffanblu beat the Junior 'Bows. University took two timeouts after Ko's clutch play, but David Johnson was unable to convert on a 3-point shot. Punahou led 23-16 at the half, but University caught up in the third, thanks to John Duro and James Cabras. University took the lead in the third, but was unable to hold off Punahou's late charge.
At Klum Gym
Punahou (6-5) 12 11 13 13 -- 49 University (2-9) 8 8 17 14 -- 47
PUNAHOU--Reid Fowler 0, Michael Lam 2, Jason Sakata 12, Stanley Fisher 4, Drew Monahan 15, Andrew Amigleo 3, Scott Otake 2, Daniel Bertao 0, Zander Schneider 0, Chris Friedemann 5, Brenton Lee 4, Kasey Ko 2.UNIVERSITY--Jeris Nakamasu 4, John Duro 9, Curtis Lefrandt 0, Ben Nishimoto 4, David Johnson 3, Tommy Chun-Ming 3, Chris Beebe 6, Ric Kodama 6, Sam Naone 0, James Cabras 12.
3-point goals -- Punahou 3 (Sakata 2, Amigleo). University 1 (Johnson).
Punahou 66, Lanakila Baptist 31 Division II
Lutheran 49, Redemption 43
Iolani 61, Assets 24
Hanalani 65, Saint Louis 59High scorers--Pun: Clint Bidwell 11. LBA: David Shirota 15, Kyley Tanioka 10. Luth: Amani Evensen 11, Joshua Jay 10. Red: Ka'anoi Poouahi 14, Eric Reis 12. Iol: Brett Fukui 11, Matt Choy 10. Hana: Junichi Ogikubo 18, Keoni Haole 14, Lito Alcantara 11. StL: Shane Butcher 27, Kaleo Perreira 10.
Kahuku 41, Kaiser 36 OIA
The Red Raiders outscored the Cougars 14-6 in the second quarter to open up a tight game and hold on to the lead.
Chris Assily had a game-high 16 points for Kaiser, while Tyler Oto scored 14, including Kahuku's only 3-pointer.
At Kahuku H.S. gym
Kaiser (3-6) 8 6 9 13 -- 36 Kahuku (5-4) 7 14 5 15 -- 41
KAISER--Jeoff Peters 0, Kekoa Kamauoha 4, Steven Pratt 6, Waikoloa Noa 4, Chris Assily 16, Matt Ching 6, Tony Carpenter 0, Tyler Fujie 0.KAHUKU--Ekahi Soriano 6, Sam Spurrier 2, Toriano Taulogo 2, Jarom Casey 4, Tu Tui 0, Tyler Oto 14, Shosei Yamauchi 4, Jeremy Perry 0, Hans Fonoimoana 0, Quin Ah You 9.
3-point goals -- Kaiser 1 (Noa). Kahuku 1 (Oto).
Junior varsity -- Kahuku 51, Kaiser 42
Hawaii School Web Sites
