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Maryknoll girls hold off ‘Iolani, 52-50, in ILH playoff

By Wes Nakama

The fate of five-time defending girls basketball state champion ‘Iolani now rests in the hands of defending state runner-up Kamehameha.

Maryknoll held off the Raiders, 52-50, Tuesday night to advance to Wednesday night’s ILH Tournament final at Kamehameha’s Kekuhaupi’o Gym. If the Spartans (13-9 overall, 5-6 ILH) win, they will secure the league’s second and final berth in next week’s state tournament, and ‘Iolani’s dynasty will officially end.

If regular season champ Kamehameha wins, then ‘Iolani (15-10, 5-6) and Maryknoll will square off again on Thursday — their sixth meeting, and third this week — for the final berth.

“It’s fun to compete,” Raiders coach Dean Young said, “but it’s also hard to play the same team over and over.”

It’s even harder to beat them repeatedly. In the teams’ previous meetings, ‘Iolani won twice and lost three. The Raiders topped the Spartans, 55-44, at Tony Sellitto Court on Monday, to secure second place in the regular season and gain homecourt advantage Tuesday … only to have Maryknoll hold them off, 52-50, largely behind Pua Herrington’s 24 points. 

The first three periods were tight and back-and-forth, with the score tied at 34-34 entering the fourth. ‘Iolani led, 43-42, after Rayah Soriano’s free throw with 2:47 remaining, but Rebekah Lum Kee answered by swishing a 3-pointer from the left wing just four seconds later to push the Spartans ahead for good, 45-43. 

The Raiders closed it to 51-50 with 4.8 ticks on the clock when Mia Frye converted a three-point play, but Skylynn Moore was fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass and sank the second of two free throws to make it 52-50 with 0:03.3 showing on the clock. ‘Iolani then advanced the ball past halfcourt but a Hail Mary attempt missed as time expired.

“We battled, we had four starters with four fouls with three minutes left in the third,” Maryknoll coach Chico Furtado said. “It wasn’t pretty, but we got it (done).”

The game started as a defensive struggle, with the Raiders taking a 4-0 lead in the first 38 seconds but scoring only one point the rest of the period as the Spartans took a 7-5 lead into the second. Maryknoll led, 19-15, after finishing the half with a 7-2 run capped by Herrington’s two free throws with 47 seconds remaining.

Frye, who went scoreless in the first half, came alive offensively in the third period and scored 11 points to help tie it at 34-34 entering the fourth.

The next four minutes were largely a back-and-forth showcase between Herrington — a junior transfer from Waiakea — and ‘Iolani sophomore Justice Kekauoha, who finished with a game-high 26 points. After Kekauoha opened the quarter with a layup to put the Raiders ahead, 36-34, Herrington swished six straight free throws to give Maryknoll a 40-36 lead with 5:44 remaining.

Kekauoha scored on a floater to cut it to 40-38, but Herrington answered with two more free throws to make it 42-38 with five minutes to go. Kekauoha then drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to close the margin to 42-41 with 3:30 left, and Soriano made one of two free throws to give ‘Iolani its final lead at 43-42 with 2:57 showing.

Lum Kee followed with her go-ahead 3-pointer shortly after.

“Our coaches always believe in us, and I believe in my teammates,” said Herrington, who went 11 for 12 from the free throw line. “So I just trust them that they’ll knock down the shots.”

Furtado said Moore deserves a lot of credit for holding Raiders guard Soriano to four points.

“Big shout-out to Skylynn,” Furtado said. “Every time we played ‘Iolani, Rayah hurt us. So tonight, we said if we lose, it’s not going to be because she hurt us. We had to do something different, because last game, they torched us. We’ve been playing zone, but this is the first time we played man (defense).

“Last time we played here, we were up 10 in the fourth quarter and they tied it with a minute left. There’s a reason they’ve been state champs, it’s not by accident. They know how to win, they know how to come back. But my team — their resilience, their effort, their intensity to match that here in an elimination game … we came out and we battled.”