Robby Mann scores all of his 12 points in the second half to help rally the Raiders against the Mustangs in the opening round of the Punahou Invitational. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Sat, Dec 26, 2015 @ Punahou

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Kalaheo

40

Iolani

48

Final	1	2	3	4
Kalaheo (34-8, 25-7)	6	14	9	11	40
Iolani (19-9, 19-9)	7	9	15	17	48

SEASON LEADERS

Robby Mann 11.8 ppg  24 3pm  67.7 FT%

Alex Layi 14.0 ppg  10 3pm  74.2 FT%

Robby Mann came off the bench with 12 second-half points to help rally ‘No. 1 Iolani past No. 5 Kalaheo, 48-40, Saturday in the opening round of the 44^th Punahou Basketball Invitational at the Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

The Raiders improved to 5-3 and are still undefeated against Hawaii opponents in preseason, while the Mustangs dropped to 9-3. It was the teams' first meeting since they played for the Division I state championship, which the Mustangs prevailed, 53-45.

The 16-team tournament resumes Monday.

Alex Layi led the Mustangs with 15 points, six off offensive boards.

Each team played without key players because of injuries. Iolani was without 6-foot-9 center Hugh Hogland (ankle, day-to-day), Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto said; Kalaheo played without Kekai Smith (knee) and Jonah Howard (ankle). Smith could be lost for three weeks, or about a third of the Oahu Interscholastic Association regular season, while Howard is week-to-week, Kalaheo coach Rob Pardini said.

"I think it took awhile for our guys to figure it out that (Hogland) is not there," Shimamoto said. "We warned them about that, but to have a consistent inside threat to score is helpful, to have a big guy in high post to step up and pass is helpful. Also, to have a defensive stopper and rebounder, to not have him there, our guys had to get used to that, so this was great for us in the preseason."

Mann did not start because he missed practice on Thursday, so he sat out the first quarter. He scored the first basket of a 6-0 run to start the third period for the Raiders that erased a 20-16 halftime deficit. The game would tie at 23, 25 and 27 before Mann scored two baskets in the closing minutes of the third period that gave the Raiders a 31-29 entering the fourth.

"I think it took him awhile to get going," Shimamoto said. "He came in the second (quarter) and it was a little ugly. I think he kind of got revved up at halftime and kind of made sure he was playing right that second half, so it was a good thing for us."

The Mustangs regained the lead with 7:35 in the fourth when Andrew Kearney converted a three-point play, only to see the Raiders tie the game at 32 12 seconds later on Mann's free throw. Kalaheo took the lead again at 6:10 on another basket by Kearney, but Mann ignited a 7-0 run that saw the Raiders hold on to their lead the rest of the way, scoring their eight of their last 10 points off of free throws.

"Second half, we came out flat," Pardini said. "We didn't respond. Defensively, we gave up too many easy buckets, we couldn't get easy buckets on our end. We came out flat and just couldn't get back in it."

Missing Smith, who was averaging 19.9 points per game before undergoing arthroscopic surgery to repair a medial collateral ligament last week, was a blow.

"So we have some injuries, trying to get healthy before OIA," Pardini said. "Doesn't look like we'll be 100 percent, but we'll be all right."