Raiders’ scrappy play yields state basketball title
Photo Credit: Courtney Ochi
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Maile Greenhill
March 6, 2010
Filed under Sports
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Iolani Wins Boys Basketball Championship from Imua Online on Vimeo.
State Champs 2010]
The state championship didn’t come easily, but the Raiders fought the entire way to prove themselves as the best. The ‘Iolani Division 1 boys basketball team fended off an aggressive Kamehameha team to win the state title, 46-43, at Stan Sheriff Center.
Senior Kainoa Chu led the team in scoring with 27 points, including the game winning 3-pointer with less than 7 seconds left on the clock.
The game did not start out well for the Raiders, with shots that did not fall and too many possessions that ended in turnovers. The score after one quarter was 12-2 in favor of Kamehameha. Despite the deficit, the Raiders wowed the crowd with massive blocks by Josiah Sukumaran, Reid Saito, and Gabriel Vega.
The second quarter was still a struggle, but senior Jarrett Arakawa blocked a Warrior attempt and converted that at the other end into an acrobatic layup to close to within 2. ‘Iolani trailed 19-15 going into halftime. The Raiders looked more like ILH champions in the third quarter, and tied the score at 19 early with help from yet another block, this time from Kainoa Scheer.
Kamehameha pulled away to 23-19, but two 3-pointers from Kainoa Chu later on put the Raiders up 30-29. Senior Andrew Skalman sank a 3-pointer with less than a minute left in the third, and made a clutch long-range two to beat the third quarter buzzer and close the quarter with the Raiders up, 35-31.
Not only did the Raiders have a four point lead going into the fourth, but Skalman’s clutch shooting boosted morale for the ‘Iolani boys and their fans. The Raiders definitely fought harder in the fourth quarter, with tough defense and free throws. Kamehameha climbed back and tied the score at 41, and again at 43.
Kainoa Chu, who scored all 11 of ‘Iolani’s fourth quarter points, came up big with 7 seconds on the clock and knocked down a 3-pointer to put ‘Iolani up 46-43. Kamehameha called timeout with 4.6 seconds left, but the Raiders held them back to win the state championship. This was the first state title for ‘Iolani since 2006, and came in Dean Shimamoto’s first year as head coach.
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