Iolani's Zach Buscher puts up a shot over Kamehameha's Kayson Smith-Bejgrowicz. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Iolani's Kamu Borden rejects a shot attempt by Kamehameha's Nakoa Pauole. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Sat, Jan 4, 2014 @ Iolani

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Kamehameha

37

Iolani

50

Final	1	2	3	4
Kamehameha (6-6, 18-10)	7	11	10	9	37
Iolani (10-3, 23-7)	10	9	17	14	50

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

I. Phillip 13 pts  1 3pm  6/7 FTs

N. Kinimaka 9 pts  1 3pm  2/3 FTs

K. Borden 5 tot

K. Smith-Bejgrowicz 5 tot

P. Winchester 3 ast

J. Smith 3 ast

Kamu Borden scored just six points Saturday night, but came up huge in other facets to lead Iolani to a 50-37 win over visiting Kamehameha in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu opener for both teams.

A crowd of about 300 spectators at the Raiders' Lower Gym witnessed the home team improve to 11-4 overall and 1-0 in the ILH's Division I standings, while the Warriors fell to 12-5 and 0-1.

Borden, a 6-foot-4 junior forward, grabbed a team-high five rebounds and had three blocks while shooting 2 of 4 from the field and 2 of 3 from the free-throw line. He scored all of his points in the fourth quarter.

"Kamu Borden was unbelievable protecting the basket and then getting buckets at the end, even knocking in free throws," said Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto, whose team is third in the ScoringLive/OC16 Power Rankings. "I mean he changed the game for us, easily. He changed the game."

The Raiders blocked eight shots in all, including three straight on a single Warriors' possession early in the second quarter. They controlled the boards, outrebounding the visitors by a margin of 21 to 12.

"We got beat on the inside tonight," said Greg Tacon, coach of fifth-ranked Kamehameha. "I thought we competed on the perimeter to keep their perimeter guys in check, but defensively we've got to do a better job of putting the kids in position not to let stuff like that happen."

Ikaika Phillip led Iolani offensively with 13 points and was 6 of 7 on free throws. Zach Buscher scored 10 points with three assists and Robert Mann contributed 10 points.

"They disrupted a lot of stuff," Tacon said. "Kamu especially, he was great around the basket and then they finish around the basket. Robby had three really good ones and then Kamu had a couple putbacks."

Warriors' sharpshooter Noa Kinimaka was just 3 of 5 from the field and was held in check for nine points. Jaycob Smith, their other main scoring threat, was also limited to nine points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field. As a team, Kamehameha shot just 39.4 percent and was held well below its average of 53.9 points scored per game.

"We really focused on stopping Jaycob Smith, we really focused on stopping Kinimaka," Shimamoto said. "We knew that those were their key scorers coming in and they're very talented players. Kinimaka can knock it down from anywhere, he goes to the hole really hard and Jaycob Smith is so great with the ball, so we really wanted to be conscious of where they were and what they were doing."

The Raiders shot 48.4 percent (15 of 31) from the field and 88.9 percent (16 of 18) from the free-throw line. They outscored the Warriors, 31-19, in the second half, after a slim 19-18 lead at halftime.

"We lost our legs," Tacon said. "We couldn't knock down shots the whole game, especially in the second half. They extended because they got some easy buckets and we were just chasing after that."

Kamehameha's last lead came with about five minutes left in the third quarter following Kayson Smith-Bejgrowicz's layup to give his team a 24-22 advantage. Erik Yamada put Iolani back ahead with his three-point play on the ensuing possession and Buscher knocked down a 3-pointer two possessions later to make it a four-point lead.

The Raiders used a 10-3 run — capped by a bucket by Mann off an assist from Buscher early in the fourth quarter — to extend their lead to 38-28.

Kinimaka converted a three-point play with four minutes and 29 seconds left to play to pull the Warriors within six, but the Raiders scored nine of the final 11 points in the game to pull away.

"You're happy for every win, I don't care who it's against," Shimamoto said. "The ILH is going to be a dogfight with six tough teams, so you can't have an off night. You can't not come without energy, you've got to be on every game."

Kamehameha had won seven straight games and nine of its last 10 entering the contest. The same teams played on Dec. 7 in a preseason game when Iolani defeated Kamehameha, 62-48, in the championship of the Kailua Surfrider Holiday Classic.