Saint Louis' Jimmy Nunuha III Takes the ball strong to the basket against Iolani. He scored 14 points to lead the Crusaders over the Raiders. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Sat, Jan 10, 2015 @ Iolani

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Saint Louis

35

Iolani

31

Final	1	2	3	4
Saint Louis (5-6, 15-9)	8	8	9	10	35
Iolani (8-4, 18-8)	7	8	4	12	31

E. Yamada 7 pts  5/6 FTs

J. Nunuha III 14 pts  6/7 FTs

Jimmy Nunuha scored 10 of his game-high 14 points in the second half and No. 7 Saint Louis upset No. 1 Iolani, 35-31, Saturday night at the Raiders' gym.

The win sets up an Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I showdown of unbeaten teams Wednesday when the Crusaders (2-0) host No. 3 Punahou (2-0).

"It's a big win for our whole basketball program," said Saint Louis coach Keith Spencer. "It's a very humbling experience right now because we worked so hard to get to this point. We told the kids enjoy the moment, we'll get back to this Monday and we'll start from there."

Saint Louis' second win of the season was like its first: on the road. The Crusaders beat Maryknoll, 44-42, on Wednesday.

"Beating them there gave us so much confidence coming into this game," Nunuha said. "Knowing they (the Raiders) were the No. 1 team, we knew we were just as good as them."

It was a physical contest in which the players were given a little more latitude, hence the low scoring. To keep up the pace, the teams rotated platoons throughout.

"We work on this in practice, the rotations," Spencer said. "The kids really worked hard to retain what we're asking them to do."

"This year, we really worked on defense and offensive ball movement," Nunuha said. "Coach told us it's all about team defense. If we want to win this game, we have to play defense."

The teams left everything they had on the court, but Saint Louis was relentless when his counted most.

"I think the effort things were the difference, in a game that close," Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto said. "The extra offensive rebound, the extra loose ball, playing through contact and not turning over, playing through contact on a finish and making it or not making it. I think all of those categories when to (Saint Louis). They were playing through contact on both sides. They finished it, we didn't."

The Raiders pulled to with 34-31 with 32 seconds left after Zachary Gelacio converted double-bonus free throws. Saint Louis called timeout after the free throws, then inbounded the ball to the speedy Nunuha, who was fouled near mid-court. Nunuha, who was 5 for 5 at the line, missed his first shot, but made the second to make it a two-possession game for the Raiders.

Iolani, though, missed its first shot and two ensuing shots off rebounds before the ball eventually went out of bounds with two seconds left to essentially seal the game for Saint Louis. Though the Raiders still had possession, they missed an inconsequential 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The Crusaders battled for rebounds, totaling 21 to Iolani's 13. Lance Sataraka pulled down seven, scoring twice on putbacks. Jayce Smalley had three rebounds, including an impressive one at the buzzer to end the third period off a missed 3-pointer by Nunuha.

"I saw that the shot was going to be short and I saw Lance watching his guy, so I had a clear lane to the basket," Smalley said. "It just happened."

"Jace Smalley has been playing big for us all season," Spencer said. "Even Chris Sykes (three rebounds), our freshman, played really well coming off the bench. He battled… I was real proud of my kids."

Saint Louis took an 8-7 into the second quarter, which it opened with a 6-0 run to make it 14-7. The Raiders did not score until nearly five minutes into the period, using a 5-0 run to pull to 14-12 with 2:14 on the clock after free throws by Erik Yamada.

Nunuha later scored off a steal to make it 16-12 with 1:40 left in the half. Iolani closed gap to 16-15 by making 3 of 4 free throws in the next minute. It stayed that way into the break.

The third period started with both teams playing tough defense. Iolani pulled to 21-19 with 1:31 in the third quarter. But the Crusaders scored the last four points of the quarter, the last basket showing the Crusaders' tenacity when Nunuha's 3-point attempt near the left baseline missed with Jace Smalley flying in to grab the rebound and putting the ball into the basket at the buzzer to increase Saint Louis' lead to 25-19 entering the fourth quarter.

Saint Louis was held scoreless for the first half of the fourth period, as Iolani chipped away by making 3 of 6 free throws during that span to pull to within 25-22. But Saint Louis responded with a 7-0 run to take first of two 10-point leads.

After Hugh Hogland scored his only field goal of the game with 2:17 to pull Iolani to 32-24, Nunuha followed by converting both ends of a one-and-one with 1:52 to get back the 10-point margin.

Iolani made 7 of 7 free throws to make it a one-possession game after Gelacio hit two free throws with 32 seconds left. That eventually led to Nunuha getting fouled and making one of his two free throws with 30 seconds left before Iolani was unable to convert any of its three field-goal tries.

The Raiders (1-1) have no time to dwell on their first setback of the season, as they visit Kamehameha on Wednesday and host Punahou Saturday.

"You can't rest," Shimamoto said. "You don't have the luxury wallowing, so we don't have a choice but to be ready."