Despite the loss of its top offensive threat, No. 2 Kamehameha withstood a frantic second-half rally by No. 5 Iolani to come away with a 44-32 win at the Raiders' lower gym Tuesday night.

The Warriors got 13 points from Jewel Paaluhi-Caulk and 10 from Kiana Vierra to improve to 3-0 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I standings.

The Raiders (0-1), who were led by Tori Lynn Maeda's game-high 19 points, dropped their regular-season opener.

Kamehameha outscored Iolani 13-2 in the second quarter to take a 24-13 halftime lead, but saw 5-foot-11 junior forward Kalina Obrey exit the game after the first half due to a left (non-shooting) hand injury.

Obrey, who entered the game averaging 20.5 points per game in ILH play, scored all six of her points in the first quarter. She was seen with a large ice pack on her hand while the rest of her teammates were in the locker room at halftime and did not return to the bench.

Warriors coach Joseph Cho said Obrey was taken for X-rays before the conclusion of the game.

"We don't know what happened or when it happened," Cho said. "She came out in the second quarter and she had two fouls, so we pulled her out to talk to her like we normally do, and then she went to our trainer and told him that something was wrong with her hand."

With Obrey unavailable to start the second half, the Warriors went cold offensively, going scoreless for more than five minutes to start the third quarter.

The Raiders eventually cut the Kamehameha lead to 33-30 with four minutes and 27 seconds left to play following a 7-0 run capped by a pair of free throws by Lily Wahinekapu.

A few minutes later, the Warriors' lead was just 35-32 after Maeda's fast break layup, but it proved to be the last points Iolani would score.

On Kamehameha's ensuing possession, Noelle Sua-Godinet made an easy bucket after a long pass in transition to stretch her team's lead to 35-30.

"I just tried to tell them to be patient. We got a lucky one when we came down and we dumped it off to (Sua-Godinet) to make it five points, so just be patient," Cho said. "Tonight they had good eyes, meaning they saw the whole floor, so I think that starts with (Paaluhi-Caulk) and it finishes up with our younger kids as well."

The Warriors went on to score the final nine points of the game, including five of seven free throws down the stretch.

Cho praised the steady play of Paaluhi-Caulk and Vierra, the only two seniors on the team.

"The senior leadership took over and led the young ones," said Cho, who also noted the return of Sua-Godinet, a sophomore wing, from injury.

"Today was her first day back in a week, so it says a lot. It says that maybe we can play a little better than what we've shown."

Paaluhi-Caulk scored seven of her points in the second quarter, when Kamehameha outscored Iolani 13-2 despite Obrey going scoreless in the period.

"Right off the bat she was aggressive and I told her she needed to be," Cho said of Paaluhi-Caulk, who also grabbed eight rebounds.

Vierra added six rebounds and foul steals.

"When Kalina went out we knew that we had to step up because she's our biggest offensive threat for our team," Paaluhi-Caulk said. "Me and Kiana, as captains, we knew that we had to be that aggressive threat and fill in for her and win for her, too."

Defensively, the Warriors got the job done, too. They held the Raiders to just two 3-pointers and allowed just four players to score.

"What I was really proud of was our defensive rebounding," Cho said. "We were really conscious of that because I watched (Iolani) obviously all this preseason and they do a heck of a job with offensive rebounding, so our job was to make sure they got one shot and that's it, and I think we did pretty much that tonight."

Kellie Okamura had six points and Alexis Huntimer chipped in with seven rebounds and a steal for the Raiders, who will visit Mid-Pacific (0-2) at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Sua-Godinet came off the bench to finish with eight points with six rebounds and Obrey recorded five rebounds, two blocks and a steal in one half of action.

Cho said Obrey's status for Friday's showdown against No. 1 Maryknoll (2-0) is unclear, but he is optimistic she will play.

"Knowing the heart that she has, I wouldn't be surprised to see her in there on Friday when we play Maryknoll," Cho said. "(Vierra) is kind of battling a little bit of a fever, so we've got some girls banged up and sick. These next two days will help us."

Tip-off between the Warriors and Spartans is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday at Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium.