Maryknoll's Micah McGivern defends a shot put up by Iolani's Zach Gelacio. Kristen Izumigawa | Special to SL

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In their biggest game of the young Interscholastic League of Honolulu season, the No. 2 Maryknoll Spartans used a defense they were not accustomed to. The switch in defense styles paid off culminating with a road victory over the third-ranked Iolani Raiders, 69-60.

"The way we played our defense today is not the way we normally play our defense. We play kind of a amoeba (like) zone defense," Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant explained Saturday night. "Because (Iolani) is so skilled, we needed to matchup (man-to-man)."

Iolani's offense generally revolves around dribble penetration to apply pressure on opposing defenses, especially if they are in a zone defense. If the ball handler is able to get by a defender and get into the lane, the defense will be forced to shift to provide help and this usually leaves someone wide open.

"This is the first game we did a matchup (defense), we didn't really practice it either," said Grant. "They like the fact that they can guard someone because normally when we do our defense, whoever is in your area you take them and that's your man. Because we had matchups today, they took it a little personal; they wanted to try and stop guys."

Instead of waiting for the Iolani offense to operate, the Spartans took their defense to them. Driving lanes to the rim were narrow and minimal because long, athletic wings like 6-foot-4 Josh Burnett and 6-foot-5 Kamakana Winquist cut it off.

"We can't let them push us around," said Burnett. "Basically not letting them push us around is what really let us do what we're supposed to do. We enforced what we wanted to do on them, so that's what we exploited."

Maryknoll's newfound defense limited the amount of shots that the Raiders took around the basket, forcing them to shoot a huge bulk of their shot attempts from beyond the arc. Out of the 51 total Iolani shot attempts, 23 were from 3-point land. From those 23 attempts, Iolani was only able to knock down six.

"Our focus was not to let them get any easy shots under the basket," Burnett affirmed. "We wanted them to take outside shots (and to) put pressure on their outside shots."

The large amount of outside shots are alarming, especially when Iolani centers Kamu Borden and Hugh Hogland only attempted one shot apiece. Maryknoll's matchup defense really limited the offensive impact that the two Iolani centers had on the game, causing them to commit some offensive fouls when they attempted to get some offense going. Hogland was called for a charge midway through the first quarter and Borden was whistled for a moving screen when trying to set a pick for point guard Erik Yamada in the third quarter.

While it was expected that there might be miscues in the recently implemented defense, the offense also took some time to get going. Iolani appeared to have the upper hand early, nursing a 12-8 lead into the second quarter. That advantage was quickly eliminated in the second quarter, with Maryknoll outscoring Iolani 16-7 – the largest differential of any quarter – to close out the first half.

"First quarter (Iolani) came out (strong). It kind of seemed like they punched us in the mouth; we wasn't really ready for their physicality," said Burnett. "After the first quarter ended we calmed down, then we was able to focus on what we was able to do. That's how the game kind of changed in the second quarter."

The Spartans big second quarter was a result of their desire to get to the rim. By attacking the rim Maryknoll was able to draw more fouls on Iolani, earning more trips to the line. Maryknoll attempted 11 first half free throws, to Iolani's four.

"In the first quarter we was really focusing on outside shots," said Burnett. "It wasn't falling and we realized how the game was being called, so going inside was what really changed the game for us."

"Anytime a team presses us, we're going to try attack it," Grant explained more in detail. "We're not going to play passive especially with the rules now. If you're attacking the baskets and one of those different violations are being made, (the referees) are going to call a foul. That was our approach and that's always going to be my approach. Ever since I was coaching at Kaimuki, anytime someone's going to press me, we're going to attack them. We're not going to wait and sit back and hope that we get the ball over."

Maryknoll's second quarter scoring surge continued after the break, allowing the Spartans opening up a 15-5 run to give them a 39-24 lead with 3:22 remaining in the third quarter.

"We changed our physicality, our mentality in the game," said Burnett. "That's what changed for us. It allowed us to do good in the third quarter."

Iolani battled back with a vocal home crowd backing them up, and even cut the Maryknoll lead to three at the end of the third quarter. Unfortunately for the home team there would not be a miracle comeback and they fell, 69-60.

"I'm happy," Grant exclaimed after the win. "Coming into Iolani and winning, it was awesome. IT was a hostile crowd and it was packed. I love it; my kids love it too. They like (playing in) the spotlight."

The Raiders will have a chance for revenge on Jan. 29, only this time it will be at Maryknoll's Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium. Both teams will play four ILH regular season games before their next meeting with each other.

"It was a tough win, good learning (experience) for all our young people," said Burnett after the game. "This was a good atmosphere; this is what all our games are going to be like from now on in the season. We weren't ready for that in our first two games, but I'm glad we got the win."