Trevyn Tulonghari let it fly and just knew.

“;I could tell by the release,”; the 'Iolani junior said.

True to Tulonghari's instinct, his 3-pointer from the top of the key zipped through the net with a shade over 2 seconds left to vault the Raiders to a thrilling 50-49 win over Kamehameha in last night's Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys basketball championship game at 'Iolani's gym.

Top-ranked 'Iolani (12-2) never led until it mattered most as the Raiders rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to stun the Warriors (10-3) and earn the ILH title and the league's seeded berth in the state tournament.

The capacity crowd shoehorned into the gym saw Tulonghari hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to score a game-high 21 points and knock down the game-winner to set off a wild celebration on the Raiders' home court.

“;I'm somewhat in disbelief,”; first-year 'Iolani head coach Dean Shimamoto said amid the frenzy. “;When you see how hard they work, it's so great for them to get rewards. ... They really just keep believing all the way through the end.”;

Both teams' primary scoring threats were largely neutralized in their third meeting of the season. Kamehameha forward Micah Christenson had three fouls before halftime and finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, just two points coming in the second half.

'Iolani guard Kainoa Chu struggled from the field to finish with five points, but fed Tulonghari for the decisive shot.

“;When we set up the play, I knew he was going to pull up and I knew he was going to make the shot,”; Chu said. “;He steps up in big moments and I had no doubt in my mind.”;

Kamehameha, the defending state champion, now faces Punahou tomorrow for the ILH's second state-tournament berth. The loser will then have to survive the league's third-place tournament, with the tourney winner having to play the third-place team from the BIIF to earn a spot in the state tournament.

“;It hurts, our boys worked so hard,”; Kamehameha coach Jesse Nakanishi said. “;That'll fuel our fire. We will rebound from this and get into the state tournament however we can get in there and our boys will fight.”;

A night after fending off Punahou to advance in the ILH playoff, 'Iolani spent all but a few seconds trailing the Warriors. Kamehameha sophomore guard Dyrbe Enos hit a 3-pointer 14 seconds into the game to spark his 16-point performance and the Warriors maintained a cushion throughout the evening.

The lead stretched to 42-32 early in the fourth quarter after Enos' third trey of the game and Brent Auyong's layup.

But 'Iolani hung around as Reid Saito hit a 3-pointer and Tulonghari made two more, the second cutting the deficit to 47-45 with 33 seconds left. After Christenson hit two free throws and Chu answered with a driving jumper, 'Iolani called timeout with 15.8 seconds left to set up its defense and forced the Warriors into a 5-second call.

“;We recognized they didn't have any timeouts left, so we really wanted to put some pressure and deny the inbound and fortunately it worked,”; Shimamoto said.

After using their final timeout, the Raiders worked the ball to Chu on the right wing. Noticing the defender trailing him, he found Tulonghari open at the top.

“;We had two options, it was either I was going to be open for the win or Chu was going to be open for the 2,”; Tulonghari said.

And when the title-clinching shot fell through ...

“;It's indescribable,”; he said. “;I'm not going to lie, it felt so good.”;