By Wes Nakama
Just one week after the prestigious ‘Iolani Prep Classic boys basketball tournament closed the books on another year, the Raiders played host to another strong team from Southern California.
Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.) surged past ‘Iolani, 57-53, Friday evening fueled by a clutch fourth-period offense and tough defense down the stretch. A sparse crowd at the largely unpublicized game watched guard Jonas Thurman pour in a game-high 23 points — including five 3-pointers — and wing Bryce Goldman add 21 points as the Eagles improved to 15-4. Nela Taliauli scored 12 points and Mana Lau Kong added 11 points to lead ‘Iolani, which fell to 9-6.
The Raiders led, 47-42, after Taliauli’s steal and layup with 5:45 remaining, but Thurman answered with a 3-pointer from the right corner 15 seconds later to ignite a 10-2 run capped by his rare four-point play that put Chaminade up, 52-49, with 4:09 left. Taliauli then scored on a layup with three minutes remaining to close it to 52-51, but Thurman swished another 3 to make it 55-51 with 2:31 on the clock.
Luke Tobin sank two free throws to pull ‘Iolani to 55-53 about 20 seconds later, and the teams traded stops until Chris Cordero drove the left baseline and lofted a high layup that fell through the net and made it 57-53 with 31 ticks remaining. The Raiders could not convert on the ensuing possession, but got the ball back after the Eagles missed two free throws with 0:12 showing on the clock.
But ‘Iolani could only manage a deep 3-point attempt that fell well short, and Chaminade was able to run out the finals seconds.
“I think just like our other games at the Classic, it just comes down to getting defensive stops,” Raiders coach Ryan Hirata said. “We had a nice five-point lead in the fourth quarter, and they came out of a timeout and made a corner 3, then we gave up another 3 … I think the ability to get stops is what’s going to be the key for us and every other team in the ILH.”
The Eagles jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first five minutes and led, 16-7, early in the second period before Lau Kong scored on a layup to spark a 17-5 run to end the half with ‘Iolani ahead, 24-21. After Ayden Goo drained a 3-pointer from the left corner to put the Raiders up, 34-33, with 4:23 remaining in the third period, Cordero scored on a layup to start Chaminade on a 9-1 run capped by Thurman’s free throw that pushed the Eagles ahead, 42-35, just over two minutes later.
Tobin’s layup then ignited a 12-0 run that overlapped into the fourth period.
“They’re big, they’re physical, the point guard (Aidan Wong) controls the ball well, 20 (Goo) and 23 (Taliauli) can stroke it … we had film on them, so we knew what we were getting into,” Chaminade coach Bryan Cantwell said of ‘Iolani. “But when they came out with the three bigs (6-foot-5 Lau Kong, 6-4 Tobin and 6-5 Jackson Dempster) to start the game and 11 (Wong) wasn’t going to start, that threw us a little bit … but we said OK, let’s just spread it out and attack it, attack the bigs.”
Hirata said he is still evaluating his personnel and possible rotations, in advance of the ILH season opener Tuesday against visiting Saint Louis.
“I think we’re still trying to find ourselves,” Hirata said. “By the ILH season, we’ll kind of settle on a lineup, but I think we’re just the type of team where game-to-game, we’re always analyzing to see what we can do better and if we like a certain matchup, we’re going to use a certain lineup. So it’s something we’ll continue to do. (Dempster) worked hard, he got his body in shape, he’s got a nice touch around the basket … I’m just happy for him, he works really hard and I’m glad we’re seeing the improvement from this kid we saw in the seventh grade.”
Chaminade lost to two-time defending state champion Saint Louis on Wednesday, falling 61-59.
The Eagles play a nonleague game on Wednesday and then face national power Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) on Friday. Can’t well said this Hawai’i trip was good preparation.
“Saint Louis is a good basketball team, very disciplined,” Cantwell said. “And we looked at ‘Iolani as like the Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) of Hawai’i.”
Hirata said Chaminade likewise provided more good preparation for ‘Iolani.
“This was good, (otherwise) we weren’t going to have a game after three days of practice,” Hirata said. “As long as we learn from this and take it to the ILH season, then I think it will help us out a lot.”
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