Top-seeded 'Iolani dominates Lahainaluna, 54-32

Iolani's Robert Mann puts up a shot at the basket against Lahainaluna. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Zach Buscher scored a game-high 15 points and Robbie Mann added 12 - all in the fourth quarter - and top-seeded 'Iolani knocked off Lahainaluna, 54-32, in a quarterfinal of the Hawaiian Airlines Division I boys' basketball tournament Thursday night at McKinley.

The Raiders (11-3) advance to the 5 p.m. semifinals Friday against Campbell at the Neal Blaisdell Center Arena. 'Iolani is making its 17th semifinal appearance. A win will put the Raiders in the title game for the 13th time. 'Iolani's last title was in 2010 against Kamehameha.

Lahainaluna (9-7) falls to the fifth-place semifinals against fourth-seeded Konawaena, 1 p.m. Friday at the NBC.

It was no contest from the start, as the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champions used a 9-0 run to take a commanding 15-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The onslaught continued in the second quarter and the Raiders made it 26-11 at the half. Buscher closed the half with a 3-pointer, giving him 10 points at the break.

The Lunas closed the gap to 32-20 with 4:04 left in the third quarter, but the Raiders widened their margin with a 5-0 run to end the quarter with a 37-20 lead.

Mann scored 12 of his team's 17 fourth-quarter points. He accounted for six points in a 10-0 run that made it 54-29. Brandon Anguay made a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Lunas.

The Raiders shot a hot 60 percent from the field, compared to the Lunas' dismal 26.3 percent shooting.

The Lunas had no players score in double figures. Jose Madera led with nine points on the strength of 5-of-5 free-throw shooting, while Penisimani Taufa followed with eight points.

This is Lahainaluna's 18th tournament appearance, but has reached the semifinals only once: the first state tournament in 1957, when it lost to Saint Louis.