FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Joseph Vines of Rice drove to the basket during last night's win in the Iolani Classic title game.

Rice wins Iolani Classic

Two New York City schools battle;
the final ends in a rout

In a battle for New York City bragging rights, the X-Men went on a steady diet of Rice last night.

Not a good idea. The Rice Raiders withstood a third-quarter run by Xaverian en route to a 62-42 win in the title game of the Iolani Classic.

Taskico Brown, a 6-foot guard, led the way with 24 points, including four of his team's seven 3-pointers. Center Curtis Kelly tallied 12 points and eight boards, and guard Edgar Sosa added 11 points.

Lavance Fields led Xaverian with 17 points.

Sosa was named Most Outstanding Player of the tourney, and Kelly was selected Most Valuable Player. Beating Xaverian had a double reward for Sosa and other returnees.

"Last year they beat us twice. It's a tough rivalry," Sosa said. "I wanted to come out and play street ball, but I know we just had to outsmart them. Coach said just play defense. It's always our key to winning."

The Raiders dismantled Radford, Iolani and two-time defending champion Fairfax en route to the championship.

A capacity crowd at Iolani Gym saw a sticky, unrelenting Rice defense take Xaverian out of its comfort zone. Rice captured its first Classic crown since 1998. Rice, a tall, athletic team, put the wraps on Xaverian early. The Clippers forced several shots in traffic, setting up Rice's fast-break game.

Before the first quarter ended, the Raiders nailed four 3-pointers in as many tries, all in transition. Brown hit two treys as Rice opened a 21-9 lead late in the first.

Xaverian switched to an aggressive 2-3 zone in the second quarter, sparking a 7-0 run. Timmy Hepworth's 3-pointer from the left corner brought the Clippers within 23-17 with 5:22 left in the half.

After a klunky series of possessions, Rice caught on and used dribble penetration to get open looks. Sosa and Brown hit pull-up jumpers before Kelly threw down an alley-oop slam over the zone as Rice regained momentum.

The Raiders led 31-17 at intermission and extended the lead to 16 in the third quarter. Xaverian went on a 10-2 run, thanks in part to a 3-point play by Terrence Mayrose and trey by Hepworth. That cut the lead to 35-27 with 3:40 to go in the third.

From that point, however, Rice was cooking.

"This'll give us momentum going back to New York, but we still gotta work real hard," Sosa said. "The win over Fairfax was big, too, 'cause they're a good team."

The bull's eye will certainly be on Rice's back now. "We're ready," Sosa said.

Fairfax (Calif.) 52, Montverde (Fla.) 44: Jamal Boykin scored 24 points as the Lions rallied past the Eagles in the third-place game.

Boykin, a 6-9 center, took command of the low post in the second half. In addition, Fairfax unleashed its full-court pressure on Montverde, reversing the Eagles' momentum. Montverde finished with 20 turnovers -- twice as many as Fairfax.

That negated Montverde's 32-11 edge in rebounding.

Luc Mbah A Moute scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds before fouling out. Arminas Urbutis added 10 points.

Iolani 62, Male (Ky.) 58: Kyle Pape wanted badly to finish his final Iolani Classic with a bang.

Thirty-two points and six rebounds later, he came through with an explosion. The Raiders went on a 9-2 run late in the game to secure their only win against a mainland team during the tournament.

Pape, a 6-2 senior, rained treys all night. He made six of 10 from beyond the arc, and added 6-for-6 accuracy from the free-throw line.

In all, Iolani shot 61 percent (11 of 18) from the 3-point line against Male's man-to-man defense.

"My team always has my back. I know I have it in me. I just have to have confidence," Pape said. "I used to think I could do it all myself, but it's a team effort."

Vinny Nip added 11 points on 3-for-6 shooting from 3-point range. Nip and Pape had the benefit of some well-placed screens by the Raiders to get free. Kawika Shoji had 10 points, making both of his attempts from behind the arc. He also grabbed five rebounds.

Ryan Newton led the Bulldogs with 17 points. Point guard Douglas Beaumont added 12 points, mostly on mid-range jumpers. Alex Gravelle and Forrest Smallwood tallied 10 points each.

Smallwood also grabbed eight rebounds, but Male's best shooter never got totally untracked. Much of the time, he directed the offense and dished to teammates. He missed all three of his 3-point tries.

Male shot 50 percent from the field and outrebounded Iolani 28-19 but was unable to contain the Raiders from deep.

Male took command after trailing 10-2, and led into the third quarter. Pape tied the game at 40 with a 3-pointer, and the lead changed hands five times. Iolani went ahead for good, 56-54, on Pape's trey from 22 feet out with 4:28 left.

Jon Takamura sank two free throws, and Pape made four in a row as Iolani sealed the win. It was a welcome finish to the tourney for the No. 1 team in the Star-Bulletin Top 10.

"When we lost to Rice, we were rushing everything," Pape noted. "I learned to calm down, and the shots were falling tonight."

Roman Catholic (Pa.) 48, Punahou 41: Bobby Jordan scored 13 points and the Cahillites made 15 of their 17 free-throw attempts to stifle the Buffanblu in the seventh-place game.

Jordan, a 6-foot point guard, made all eight of his foul shots. Mike Ringgold, a 6-6 forward, added nine points and seven rebounds. Malik Perry added eight points and eight caroms for the patient Cahillites.

"I felt that we did a good job handling the clock in the fourth quarter," Roman Catholic coach Dennis Seddon said. "I told the kids, a great tournament like this, if you go 2-2, you're pretty good. If you're 3-1, you did great."

The Cahillites went 3-1, with wins over Iolani and Kamehameha, in addition to Punahou. Those teams are ranked among the first five teams in the Star-Bulletin Top 10.

Jeremiah Ostrowski led the Buffanblu with 20 points and three assists.

Danny Cho added 10 points, including nine in the fourth quarter as Punahou rallied from a 12-point deficit. Cho's hot shooting and a layup by Ostrowski cut the lead to 42-39 with 4:55 remaining.

Roman Catholic stabilized after that, taking care of the ball and continuing to work the low post. The Cahillities made six free throws in a row to close out the game, limiting Punahou to just two points the rest of the way.

Roman Catholic's physical play on and away from the ball provided a learning experience.

"They were jumping off the screen and plowing us," Punahou coach Greg Tacon said. "Our kids have gotta adjust to that."

Punahou, ranked No. 2 in the Top 10, lost to three mainland teams during the tourney, including another close loss, to Male (Ky.).

"We had the great fortune of playing three quality programs with tradition. They're exposed to great basketball on a regular basis," Tacon noted. "The intensity that we brought to these games, we need to bring all the time. Good things are happening. I'm not worried about our guys at all."

The Buffanblu don't get much of a break soon. The Punahou Holiday Classic tips off Monday with a field of 16 teams. While some teams prefer to stay in and work on fundamentals, Tacon likes the busy tournament schedule.

"It's a grueling time of year, but we can't get this at practice. The only team that can replicate this are the (Iolani) Raiders," he said.

Radford 56, Kamehameha 52: William Kerins hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 34 seconds to play and Justin Quinones came up with two big defensive plays as the Rams rallied past the Warriors.

Mike Davis led Radford with 17 points and three assists. The senior guard shot 5-for-7 from the field for the Rams, who have beaten Kamehameha twice in tournaments.

Michael Ni'i led the Warriors with 11 points. Rykin Enos and Keo Wright-Pacarro added nine points apiece.

Roosevelt 61, Saint Anthony 53: Danton Balbas scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Rough Riders pulled away from the Trojans.

Keo Keola, a 6-1 junior, tallied 15 points for Roosevelt, ranked No. 8 in the Star-Bulletin Top 10.

John Powley, a 6-2 senior, led Saint Anthony with 24 points and eight rebounds.

Kauai 62, Kalaheo 39: The Red Raiders scorched the nets en route to a 40-16 halftime lead and never looked back. Jeremy Manuel, a transfer from Waimea, led Kauai with 18 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Aiea 60, McKinley 44: Four Na Alii scored in double figures as both teams battled for their first win in the tournament.

Nick Helsham led the way with 14 points.

Kapena Quisano scored 11 points and four rebounds to lead the Tigers in both categories.