Iolani's Ikaika Phillip battles Saint Francis' Justin Sarsuelo for the ball in the paint. Sylvia Lee | SL

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123013_SL-BBKB-MERV-STF_IOL-0120.jpg - Sylvia Lee | SL

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'Iolani defeated Saint Francis, 49-36 to claim third place in the 2013 Saint Francis School/Merv Lopes Hoops Classic at Saint Francis' gymnasium on Monday night. It is the final preseason game before the New Year as both teams start Interscholastic League of Honolulu play in a couple days. The Raiders defeated the Saints earlier, 53-42 in Kailua's Surfriders Holiday Classic almost three weeks ago.

It was tightly contested for most of the game, however, the Raiders were able to pull away from the Saints late in the fourth quarter.  The Raiders used a 7-1 run to give themselves a comfortable 12-point lead and were able to outscore the Saints, 19-10 to put the game away.

"We like to be that strong every fourth quarter. We hope not to wait that long, we expect that kind of effort from the beginning to the end. So it's good to see that we're able to pick it up at the end, but we'd like to get that kind of effort in the beginning," said Shimamoto, on his team closing out the Saints in the fourth quarter.

Saint Francis Senior forward Matthew Nuumanaia led all scorers and finished the game with 23 points and eight rebounds.

"Saint Francis is a good team, Matt Nuumanania is one of the best players in the state and they were without their big man in Blayne Won so I expect them to do well in Division 2 and I'm glad we don't have to play them," said Shimamoto.

It was a slow first quarter for both teams as Saint Francis got on the scoreboard first after a basket from Matthew Nuumanaia with over 5 minutes in the quarter. Kyle Lau hit a 3-pointer to put the Saints up 5-0 and 'Iolani called timeout at 5:08 to talk it over. Following the timeout, Hugh Hogland made 'Iolani's first basket and the Raiders scored six straight points to take a 8-5 lead after the first quarter.

"We came out really flat and with no energy and we subbed real quick. We wanted guys that wanted to be on the floor and play hard and we didn't come out with that with our first unit," said 'Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto.

Pikai Winchester made two consecutive 3-pointers to give the Raiders a 17-8 lead, but Nuumanaia answered with a 3-pointer to bring the Saints within six. Nuumanaia scored 9 of the team's 12 second quarter points and the Saints trailed 21-17 going into halftime.

Saint Francis started the third quarter on a 5-0 run after Ranan Mamiya had a steal and fast break layup to put the Saints up, 22-21 and 'Iolani called a timeout at 4:51. Following the timeout, the Raiders went on a 8-2 run.

"I don't know what it was about today, we had a big lack of focus. We weren't doing the things that we've been doing all preseason. We weren't cherishing the ball, we weren't playing good defense or hustling, I think they beat us on every hustle play. That's a little concerning, but we hope it's just a bad day," said Shimamoto.

Nuumanaia started the fourth quarter with a 3-point play and scored the team's first five points to put the Saints up, 31-30. However, Chris Gallacher and Zach Gelacio hit their 3-pointers to put the Raiders up, 40-35. The Raiders went on a 7-1 run led by Erik Yamada, who scored five of his seven points during the run to push the lead up by double digits and the Raiders never looked back.

Ikaika Phillip scored 14 points and seven rebounds to lead the Raiders and Erik Yamada scored all 7 of his points late in the fourth quarter.

The Raiders improve to 10-4 overall and wrapped up preseason and will start Division 1 play hosting Kamehameha-Kapalama on January 4th.

"We learned a lot. Yesterday's game (against Santa Magarita), certain plays and details that we don't focus on and we don't end up in a positive result. Today, we came out flat, we can't do that especially in the ILH, every game is going to be tough. These types of games help show what the consequences are if we're not on our game," said Shimamoto.

The Saints are 8-9 overall and start Division 2 play at Damien on January 3rd.