Baseball
Schools
Schedules
Standings
Stats
Players
Softball
Boys VB
JV boys VB
Girls Water Polo
» Football
» Girls Volleyball
» JV Football
» JV/White Girls Vball
» Baseball
» Softball
» Boys Volleyball
» Girls Water Polo
» JV Boys Volleyball
» Boys Basketball
» Girls Basketball
» Boys Soccer
» Girls Soccer
» JV Boys Basketball
» JV Girls Basketball
» JV Boys Soccer
» JV Girls Soccer
All-Hawaii
Power Rankings
Distinguished Athlete
Newcomer Award
Top Performers
Stories
About SL
Contact
Privacy
Advertise
Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveJanuary 15, 2022, 9:18pm
Sat, Jan 15, 2022 @ Iolani
ALA WAI — New crew, same Raiders.
Jaety Mandaquit scored 10 of her game-high 16 points before halftime in her varsity debut Saturday to lead two-time defending state champion Iolani to a 54-47 win over visiting Punahou.
It was the much-awaited first game of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu schedule for the Raiders (1-0), who have a trio of players still on the roster from their 2019 squad that successfully defended their Division I state crown.
Mandaquit, a sophomore guard, is one of seven newcomers to the team this winter.
"She did a great job," Iolani coach Dean Young said. "This is her first ILH varsity game and she was a factor on both ends of the court, on defense and offense."
The Raiders set the tone early by getting up and down the court in transition, which led to points on their first six offensive possession and a 12-3 lead.
Punahou pulled to within 15-10 with a 7-2 run that was sparked by Laynee Torres-Kahapea's first of three 3-pointers of the afternoon and capped by her two free throws. However, Iolani answered with a 5-0 run to close out the opening quarter, which was part of an 11-0 run that culminated with a layup by Callie Pieper to give her team its largest lead of the game at 26-10 with four minutes and 40 seconds left in the first half.
The Buffanblu went scoreless for more than four minutes, during which they shot 0 for 8 on field goals in addition to four turnovers.
"For us, our defense leads to our offense so if we can get stops, then we can definitely score more points," Young said.
In the first half alone, Mandaquit twice picked the pocket of a Punahou guard and converted both into breakaway buckets.
Iolani took a 31-17 lead into halftime, but saw the Buffanblu claw back to within 37-33 following a 13-4 run that was bookended by a pair of 3-pointers by Kuualoha Lloyd and Shania Moananu.
Like his counterpart Saturday, Punahou coach Gary Pacarro said his team's run was sparked by its defense.
"We got back on transition. We didn't let them transition on us like they did in the first half," he said. "I think if we took that to heart in the first two quarters maybe it'd be a different game, but take nothing away from Iolani, these kids, they work at what they do best and that transition game."
The Buffanblu remained within striking distance at 43-38 after Moananu made one of two from the free-throw line with 5:09 left in the game. But the Raiders responded in a big way on their next trip down the floor, when Haylie-Ann Ohta dished to Abby Tanaka, who drained a 3-pointer from the left wing and was fouled in the process.
Tanaka made the free throw to finish off the four-point play and extend it back to a nine-point lead.
"That was huge," Young said of the sequence. "That was huge to just not only stop the momentum, but put us up four more points, which is a clutch play. Haylie and Abby play a lot together, so Hailey made a nice drive but she knew where Abby was gonna be and she gave her the ball and Abby made a good shot."
Iolani went up 51-38 with 2:53 to play on a Jovi Wahinekapu left bucket inside.
Punahou reeled off seven straight points off of a couple of putbacks by Tanea Loa sandwiched around a Torres-Kahapea trey from the left wing to cut it to a six-point game with under a minute to play, but the Raiders made three of four from the free-throw line in the final 38 seconds to hold off the Buffanblu.
Punahou outscored Iolani in the second half, 30-23.
"To me it was like a tale of two halves," said Young, whose team did not practice for a week and had its first two ILH games postponed.
"You could really see how we're not in shape. That was Punahou's third game and we didn't practice for a week and it really showed. In the second half our defense lacked intensity, we walked the ball up, our offense was stagnant — they were just tired — and it was just two different teams in the first half and the second half, so we're lucky enough that we had a big enough lead that we could hold on," Young said. "Hopefully after a few games and a few more practices they'll get their legs back under them a little better. Some of them just came back and haven't really practiced, too, and you could really tell."
Among the bright spots for the Raiders was the defense of sophomore center Male Sake. The 6-footer recorded at least four blocks and altered a number of other Punahou shot attempts in the paint — not that there were many; the Buffanblu took 18 shots from beyond the arc. They made 33 percent of them and Torres-Kahapea made half of those. She also made all four of her free throws and finished with a team-high 13 points.
Lloyd and Moananu added 10 points apiece and Tanea Loa had eight for Punahou, which shot 11 of 15 on free throws.
Lefotu, a University of Hawaii-signee, finished with 14 points and Tanaka tallied 10 for Iolani, which was 16 of 20 from the charity stripe.
"Well, it was a great game. Iolani, they're not on the top one or two for nothing, you know what I mean? They're a good team and that was a good test for us. I really enjoyed the way we were able to be resilient in the second half and come back a little bit and played each possession and the kids did well. Hats off to Iolani, they got a good crew," said Pacarro.
The Raiders never trailed in the game. All nine of their players who saw game time scored at least two points.
Young was pleased to see the balanced scoring output and less of a reliance on Lefotu, who is in her fourth varsity season and is the lone senior on the team.
"Oh yeah, that's fantastic. We were missing Jovi for a couple weeks in the preseason. Against Kapolei and Campbell we didn't have her, so it actually helped a lot to develop the other girls," Young said.
The game was played at Iolani's lower gymnasium without spectators due to ILH health and safety protocols. A few weeks after the league pushed back the start of its regular season schedule, the state of Hawaii saw a single-day record 5,977 new or probable COVID-19 cases on Saturday.
Young, to be sure, was thrilled for his team to finally open its ILH slate — and potential march toward a third consecutive state title — but he is constantly reminded of the fluidity and fragility of the ongoing pandemic.
"Oh yeah, I mean, I told the girls before the game to ‘enjoy every chance you get to play, every chance you get to practice,' " Young said. " ‘Tomorrow is not guaranteed so whatever you do, give it your all and have fun' and, you know, we got the win so it's always good."
Both teams will hit the road for their next game Tuesday night.
Punahou visits Maryknoll (0-2) at 6 o'clock and Iolani will play at Kamehameha (1-1) at 6:30 p.m.
Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.
Please consider making a contribution today.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Chargers rapped out nine runs on 14 hits, capped by Jayson Au Hoy's three-run home run in the top...
The Kaiser junior centerfielder made a pivotal highlight-reel grab against Kailua Saturday, while the...
Ismael Diaz delivered a pair of two-RBI doubles as part of a 29-minute top of the first inning for the...
The Cougars plated a season-high 16 runs Saturday night to end the Surfriders' 10-game win streak and...
Bryson Rubio's line drive single scored Tai Pham from second for the game winning run in the Rough Riders'...
Sophomore Layden Kauka led the Cowboys to a second straight state title, averaging 15.7 ppg in league...
