Raiders hold on to top AOP, 39-37, in ILH round-robin opener

Video Credit: Guthrie Angeles

Photo Credit: Guthrie Angeles

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Maile Greenhill, Sports Editor
January 26, 2012
Filed under Featured Sports Scrollbox, Sports, Sports Center, Top Stories, Uncategorized

The Raiders basketball team watched as the Academy of the Pacific Dolphins’ last-second shot ricocheted off the rim as time expired to seal a 39-37 win, Thursday night at Le Jardin. The Raiders avenged a loss to the Dolphins a week ago, which, coincidentally, was by the same score of 39-37. The boys basketball team is now 1-0 in the second-round ILH play (6-3, division), with Maryknoll, Punahou, and Kamehameha left on the schedule. The top two teams of this round-robin will automatically advance to the HHSAA Division I state tournament.

‘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.