‘Iolani struggled with finishing in layups and controlling the ball, while Punahou played comfortably. After the first quarter, Punahou led, 17-3. A determined effort allowed the Raiders to quintuple their point total and score 12 points while the Buffanblu scored 14 and led 31-15 going into halftime. However, the deficit created in the first quarter proved to be too large to overcome for ‘Iolani, who scored 9 points in the third compared to Punahou’s 10, and even outscored the Buffanblu, 19-13, in the final quarter. Not even a spectacular dunk by senior Gabriel Vega at the final buzzer could change the final outcome as Punahou won, 56-43.

The Raiders send off seniors Vega, Duke Pauli, Austin O’Leary, and Josh Hannum.

The team held significant leads early, with a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and a 29-21 lead in the third before the Spartans went on a 21-4 run. The Raiders were 9 for 18 on free throws and 18 for 41 on field goals compared to the Spartans, who were 20 for 31 from the line and 16 for 30 from the field. The Raiders were led in scoring by Austin O’Leary (21 points) and Duke Pauli (13 points).

The Raiders are now 1-1 in ILH pool play (6-4 in league play) and have Punahou and Kamehameha left on the schedule. Of the five teams playing in the ILH championship pool, the top two are guaranteed a state tournament berth. A third ILH team may qualify through a series of playoffs.

Earlier today, the Punahou Buffanblu defeated the Kamehameha Warriors, 59-57. The Buffanblu, who beat the Spartans earlier this week, are now 2-0 and lead in pool play. The Warriors fell to 0-1.

Current ILH second-round/pool-play standings are as follows:
Punahou 9-1 overall
Maryknoll 6-4 overall
‘Iolani 6-4 overall
AOP  7-2 overall
Kamehameha  5-4 overall

‘Iolani came out firing, leading 8-0 at one point thanks to minimal turnovers and a great low-post performance by senior Duke Pauli. Making equally valuable contributions in the first half were senior Gabriel Vega and sophomore Zach Buscher. The Raiders led 21-13 at halftime. ‘Iolani even extended that lead to 28-17 halfway through the third quarter before a 12-4 Dolphin run, helped by a few sloppy Raider turnovers, made the score 32-29 about a minute into the fourth.

The final few minutes of the game would be a battle of free throws, and it wasn’t a pretty one. In the final quarter, the Raiders made 3 out of their 10 free throws, including only 1 out of 8 in the final four minutes. The Dolphins only did slightly better, draining 4 out of 8 from the line in the fourth quarter. Free throws were most likely the greatest factor in AOP’s ability to close in on the Raiders in the final minutes.

With less than a minute on the clock and ‘Iolani barely leading, 38-37, AOP put up a shot that missed and was rebounded by Vega, who was fouled with 4.8 seconds left in the game. Vega, up until that point was a perfect 8 for 8 from the line, made the first free throw and missed the second. After a timeout, the Dolphins moved the ball to Wilson MacLeod. MacLeod, who made the game-winning shot at the buzzer for AOP in ‘Iolani’s Lower Gym just a week ago in the ILH first-round, launched the ball from behind the three-point line, but his shot drifted to the right and bounced off the rim. The Raiders won, 39-37, which was the exact same score from that first-round game, but this time in favor of ‘Iolani.

Vega scored a game-high 15 points, while Pauli contributed 14 and Buscher 10. Drew Viena and David Daniel led the Dolphins with 11 points each. ‘Iolani shot 43.8% from field goal range and 52.9% from the line, while AOP came in at 37.8% from the field and 53.8% from the line.

‘Iolani faces Maryknoll next at the Lower Gym on Saturday at 6:00 pm. The Raiders lost to the Spartans in an overtime cliffhanger in their first-round matchup at Maryknoll. Maryknoll lost to Punahou, 62-37, in their second-round opener.

Guthrie Angeles contributed to this story.

Coming off of a last-second loss to Academy of the Pacific two days earlier, ‘Iolani picked itself up and controlled the pace of this game fairly well, with a small yet constant lead most of the way. ‘Iolani led 40-36 going into the fourth quarter. The Raiders’ intensity began to waver in the last half of the fourth quarter, and they trailed the Warriors by three in the final minute after two free throws by Kamehameha’s Makoa Chamanse-Stevens. Austin O’Leary ’12 responded by draining a well-defended three-pointer to tie it with 7.4 seconds left. However, on the Warriors next possession, Enos was fouled with 0.8 seconds left in regulation. The Raiders, whose nine fouls put the Warriors in the one-and-one bonus, watched as Enos, one of the best shooters in the state, went to the line for the first of a one-and-one series. The shot by Enos, who was 4 for 5 in free throws in the game so far, bounced off the front of the rim and was snatched up by Vega. And thus, the game would go into overtime.

The Warriors struck first on a three-pointer by Austin Gerrard. O’Leary pulled the Raiders to within one, this time with a two-pointer about one step inside the three-point line. Kamehameha couldn’t make a shot despite multiple attempts, and took a timeout with 47 seconds left. A tight ‘Iolani defense caused Enos to step out of bounds, giving the Raiders possession. The Raiders used two timeouts on their ensuing possession, setting up the pivotal final play. With the clock ticking down, Duke Pauli ’12 lobbed a high-arcing pass over the hands of three Kamehameha defenders into the hands of 6’7″ Vega. Vega turned to the basket and made the layup with 5.5 seconds left. After a Kamehameha timeout, the Warriors inbounded the ball to Enos, who moved quickly downcourt, but airballed the desperation three-pointer.

The Raiders’ stifling of Enos was key, as Enos only scored 13 points, as opposed to his average of 19.3 points in previous ILH games. Both teams made 19 field goals, except the Warriors had 54 attempts for 35.2%, compared to the Raiders’ 32 attempts for 59.4%. The Raiders shot 14 for 15 in free throws for 93.3%, while the Warriors struggled from the line, going 8 for 12, equating to 66.7%. Pauli led ‘Iolani with 20 points, as Vega contributed 18 and O’Leary 11. Chamanse-Stevens led the Warriors with 18 points.

The Raiders are now 5-3 in the ILH, the same as both Kamehameha and Maryknoll. AOP and Punahou lead the league with records of 7-1.

 FINAL RESULTS

1. Montrose Christian (Rockville, MD)

2. Orlando Christian (Orlando, FL)

3. Westbury Christian (Houston, TX)

4. Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland, CA)

5. De LaSalle (Concord, CA)

6. Lincoln (San Diego, CA)

7. Fairfax (Los Angeles, CA)

8. ‘Iolani (Honolulu, HI)

Consolation: Kamehameha-Kapalama (Honolulu, HI)

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

CONSOLATION BRACKET
9:00 am Game 25: Kaimuki (Honolulu, HI) 50 vs. Farrington (Honolulu, HI) 46 FINAL

10:30 am Game 26:  Kalani (Honolulu, HI) 34 vs. Kamehameha-Hawaii (Kea’au, HI) 55 FINAL

12:00 pm Game 27: Tsinghua (Beijing, China) 45 vs. Kahuku (Kahuku, HI) 23 FINAL

CONSOLATION CHAMPION

1:30 pm Game 28:  Academy of the Pacific (Honolulu, HI) 49 vs. Kamehameha-Kapalama (Honolulu, HI) 58 FINAL

SEVENTH PLACE 

3:30 pm Game 29: ‘Iolani (Honolulu, HI) 40 vs. Fairfax (Los Angeles, CA) 41 FINAL

‘Iolani led 8-5 after the first on an Austin O’Leary ’12 three-pointer with 1:12 left in the quarter. Fairfax’s Taj Adams was called for his third foul in the first quarter and would only return to the game late in the third. Play continued to go back and forth, and the Raiders led 14-13 at halftime. Fairfax drained four three-pointers early in the third and led 25-18 with 4:51 left in the quarter. Fairfax led 30-27 after three quarters. In the fourth, ‘Iolani’s Zach Buscher ’14 tied it at 33 about a minute in. A free throw and a layup would put the Lions up 36-33, but a block by Duke Pauli ’12 and a layup by Gabriel Vega ’12 would put the Raiders within 1. A putback by Pauli gave ‘Iolani a 37-36 lead with 3:12 left in the game. Fairfax would lead 40-39 going into the final minute. ‘Iolani’s seventh foul with 23.2 seconds allowed Reggie Theus, Jr. to make the first free throw, but a free throw violation on the second prevented him from making the second and gave the Raiders possession. Fairfax’s tenth foul came with 7.7 seconds left, and Vega made one out of two free throws to make the score 41-40, Fairfax leading. With 5.5 seconds left, ‘Iolani fouled and Fairfax missed the first end of the one-and-one, and ‘Iolani took a timeout with 2.4 seconds left. The ball was inbounded to Vega who shot a three-pointer near the ‘Iolani bench that didn’t fall in, and Fairfax took seventh place, 41-40.

FIFTH PLACE

5:00 pm Game 30:  Lincoln (San Diego, CA) 19 vs. De La Salle (Concord, CA) 23 FINAL

This extremely low-scoring game had both teams missing a large percentage of their shots and occasionally holding the ball to kill time. De La Salle led 9-6 after the first and 13-11 at halftime. In fact, no one scored in the fourth quarter until a backdoor basket-and-one by De La Salle’s Elliott Pitts put the Spartans up, 21-15, with 3:43 left in the game. Pitts helped prevent a Lincoln comeback with a block on Tyrell Robinson with 12 seconds left.

THIRD PLACE
6:30 pm Game 31: Westbury Christian (Houston, TX) 93 . Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland, CA) 69 FINAL

This game was definitely defined by the high number of three-pointers. In the final 1:31 of the first quarter, Westbury drained four three-pointers to lead 25-14 over the Dragons. The Wildcats would drain five more threes in the second quarter and go into halftime leading 54-36. The Dragons could not overcome the barrage of three-pointers and fell 93-69. For Westbury, Sam Freeman had five threes, LJ Rose and Arta Turner each had three threes, and Devon Turk contributed one.

‘IOLANI CLASSIC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

8:00 pm Game 32: Montrose Christian (Rockville, MD) 47 vs. Orlando Christian (Orlando, FL) 36 FINAL

Montrose opened up the 2011 ‘Iolani Classic championship game with a 14-0 run, including two three-pointers by Justin Anderson, and led 16-5 after the first. Orlando gradually found their footing and trailed 27-15 at the half. However, the Warriors would not get much closer for the rest of the game, and the Mustangs claimed their school’s first Classic championship. Anderson and Michael Carrera each had 14 points, while Issac Cohen and Jordan Montgomery led Orlando with 11 and 10 points, respectively.