ALA WAI — No. 3 Punahou made a late push in the fourth quarter and held off No. 2 Iolani to win, 50-44, in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu clash at the Raiders' Lower Gymnasium Thursday.

The Buffanblu snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 8-3 in the ILH. The Raiders lost their second-consecutive game to fall to 7-4 on the season.

"I think it was big for us, we haven't lost two games in a row for years. I thought for us, we need to focus on us and get back to where we are. January was going to be a tough month for us, we knew lot of guys will be in and out," Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said as some players missed time playing in all-star football games. "For us, everything is done pretty much, but basketball wise, we got to get back our mojo."

"Coming off those two losses, we had to get one back," Jakob Kimura said.

Kimura led Punahou with 12 points and Kaulana Makaula added 10. Duke Clemens chipped in eight and Tamatoa Falatea added seven and each scored crucial baskets down the stretch.

Frank Felix scored a game-high 15 points for Iolani and Kawika Lee added 10 points and was 8 for 8 from the free-throw line.

Iolani got within two, 42-40, following Lee's free throws, but Punahou went on a 7-0 run to put the game out of reach. Falatea drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to kick off the run, Kimura's touch pass set up Clemens' basket and Makaula had a putback to make it 49-40.

"It was sticking to the game plan. We continued to execute what coach Darren is doing for and there's no doubt we should win at the end of the day," Makaula said.

"We tell our guys to stay in the moment," Matsuda said of the late run. "The game is a marathon, not a sprint. Basketball is a game of runs and you're going to see that on both sides of the ball."

The Raiders got their final four points from the free-throw line as their three-point attempts and putbacks could not fall.

Punahou swept the season series having won back on Jan. 15, 57-56, but this time it did not come down to the final possession.

The Raiders took a 14-11 lead following Lee's free throws at the 7:23 mark in the second quarter but went cold going 0 for 5 from the field. The Buffanblu took advantage of Iolani's missed baskets and went on a 9-0 run to lead 20-14. Felix's jumper fell with 1:47 to go and Lee hit another pair of free throws as Punahou still led, 22-18, at halftime.

"We knew we had to play good defense, they have good three-point shooters and we had to get on them," Kimura said.

"Iolani does a good job moving without the ball and setting screens. The first time we played them, we were missing a lot of guys at practice. This time we finally got everybody back," Matsuda said. "We're trying to find ourselves. We're not where we need to be sync wise on offense, but defensively we played well.

"They (Iolani) played well too. They were very disciplined and made big plays down the stretch and were good at the free-throw line," Matsuda continued.

Iolani brought the game within one after Felix's 3-pointer and Noah Bumanglag's steal and layup. Punahou went back up by five, but the Raiders roared back to tie it up after Wes Yamada's 3-pointer to make it 28-all.

Punahou closed out the third quarter on an 8-0 run sparked by Macaulay's assist to Makaula and he added a floater of his own. Kimura got the layup plus the foul, but missed the free throw. He cleaned up his own miss and got fouled on the putback. He cashed in two at the charity stripe to give the Buffanblu a 36-28 lead going into the fourth.

"It's hard to come to Iolani and get a win. We stuck to coach Darren's game plan and we executed it," Makaula said.

The Buffanblu extended their lead by 10, 38-28, following Maninoa Tufono's free throws. Yamada hit a 3-pointer from the left wing, but Kimura answered with a baseline drive to make it 40-31. Felix accounted for all seven points during Iolani's 7-0 run to bring it within two. The Raiders got within two for the final time before Punahou put the game away with a late run of their own.

The Raiders shot better at the free-throw line going 13 for 15 (86.6 percent) while the Buffanblu shot 7 for 19 (36.8 percent).

"We got to work on our free throws a little bit more," Kimura said.

Punahou closes out the ILH regular season at Saint Louis on Feb. 4 while Iolani plays Kamehameha on the same night.