Girls Basketball
Iolani, Clovis West, Long Beach Poly advance in girls Classic


 



The nationally ranked teams in the 10th annual Iolani Girls Classic looked the part on the first day of the eight-team tournament.

Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) and Clovis West (Fresno, Calif.) took care of their respective opponents Thursday afternoon while host Iolani defeated Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) to advance to the tournament's semifinal round.

The Raiders were the lone Hawaii team in the tournament to pick up a win in the tourney's opening round, defeating Salesian, 57-45. 

Iolani was able to spread out the floor effectively, and forced the Pride's bigs to guard the perimeter. The end result saw the Raiders knocked down eight total 3-pointers. Camy Aguinaldo scored a game-high 16 points with three 3-pointers made and Skylar Nakata scored 12 points on four made triples to lead the Raiders.

"We have the green light to shoot open 3s," said Iolani coach Dean Young. "We just need enough ball movement to open up some shots."

The Raiders played all 10 players on their roster and got points scored from eight different players. Kayla Malta added nine and Emily Nomura and Kellie Okamura each chipped in six points. Kelsi Ikeda had four, Tori Maeda had three and Taylor Wu had one to round out the scorers for Iolani.

"We only have 10 girls, and all 10 can play," said Young. "All 10 contributed so it was a great team win."

Makayla Edwards had 13 points and Angel Jackson added 11 more to lead Salesian in the loss.

Iolani moves on to face Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) in an 8 p.m. semifinal Friday night.

In the game that preceded the Raiders and Pride, Clovis West had to weather a tough stretch against Maryknoll before winning, 67-58.

The Golden Eagles, who are ranked ninth in the latest USA Today Super 25 Expert Power Rankings, led by just five at the half before outscoring the Spartans 21 to 10 in the third quarter. Maryknoll battled back in the fourth quarter, but the deficit was to large to overcome.

"Their length and pressure bothered us a little bit," said Maryknoll coach Chico Furtado. "We kind of knew that they were going to come out with different pressure. Talking about it and experiencing it is two different things. I thought we handled it sometimes, and we didn't sometimes."

Other than the bad third quarter, Furtado was proud of how his players performed throughout the first half and final period of play.

"I like the fight in my team," he said. "I like the fact that they battled till the very end. We talked about that. When you have some adversity on the court, you can't fold and go home. You have to finish the game."

In fact, the Spartans had Clovis West on the ropes for the early part of the second quarter. Down 19-12 after the opening period, Maryknoll scored the next six points to make it a one-point game. The Spartans appeared to take the lead after Kamalu Kamakawiwoole banked in a baseline runner, but she was called for an offensive foul and the Golden Eagles' lead was preserved.

Kamakawiwoole, a sophomore wing, had to leave the game midway through the second quarter after suffering a sprained right ankle. Furtado said she would probably sit out the rest of the tournament, but could come back in time for when league play resumes.

Dakota Vienna had nine points and two made triples to lead the Spartans. Chayse Milne and Isabella Cravens followed with eight points each.

Boise State-commit Tess Amundsen led Clovis West in the win 20 points and two made 3-pointers. Breyanna Sanders and Megan Anderson each had 12 points to round out the Golden Eages' leading scorers.

The first game of the tournament saw Long Beach Poly beat up on Leilehua, 81-31.

The Lady Jackrabbits scored over 20 points in the first two quarters of play and led 47-7 at the break. The Mules were held without a field goal in the second period.

Ayanna Clark scored 14 and Aiyana Barnes added 10 more to lead Long Beach Poly in the win.

The Mules were led by Kaylen Kamelamela, who had eight points before fouling out.

Long Beach Poly, ranked No. 14 in the USA Today Super 25 Expert Power Rankings, will play Clovis West in a 6:30 p.m. semifinal on Friday.



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




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