Punahou's Tyra Moe drives to the basket against Iolani. Moe scored a team-high 14 points in the win over the Raiders. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Wed, Feb 3, 2016 @ Punahou

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Iolani

48

Punahou

52

Final	1	2	3	4
Iolani (6-7, 8-11)	11	10	12	15	48
Punahou (12-3, 19-10)	4	11	19	18	52

T. Moe 14 pts  4/5 FTs

T. Maeda 15 pts  5/8 FTs

No. 4 Punahou came back in the second half and held off No. 7 Iolani, 52-48 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I single elimination tournament semifinals at Hemmeter Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.

"They pulled through and they were chipping away, we told them to focus on one possession at a time and it showed they had a lot of heart and they wanted it bad," said Punahou coach Liz Kam.

Across the street, the Lady Spartans (12-1 ILH) withstood a furious second half rally to defeat Kamehameha, 53-43. The game between Maryknoll and Punahou will take place at Saint Louis' McCabe Gymnasium on Friday. If Maryknoll wins, they lock up the ILH outright and a seeded berth. If Punahou wins, they will have to play again on Saturday to determine the league champion.

The Buffanblu (10-2 ILH) also lock up a coveted state tournament berth to the 2016 OC16 Girls Basketball State Championships. The Raiders end the season at 6-7.

When it got tight toward the end, the game came down to free throws. Iolani finished 11 of 16 (68.8 percent) while Punahou shot, 17 of 26 (65.4 percent).

"In a close game like this, it's the little things that matter and we didn't take care of the little things. Open looks, layups, boxing out and diving after loose balls to beat a good team. Hat's off to them, they came out second half and they wanted it, they fought for every loose ball and we missed free throws down the stretch," said Young.

Punahou took a 34-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter and led, 42-37 after the Buffanblu called a timeout at the 3:30 mark. Iolani was just 2 of 6 from the free throw line and shot 6 of 10 for the quarter.

Tori Maeda scored 10 of her 15 points in the fourth and shot 4 of 6 from the free throw line. Punahou's Tyra Moe led the team with 14 points, Elle Uyeda added 13 and Kamaile Kandiah chipped in 10.

Camy Aguinaldo hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to bring Iolani within two, 46-44 with 1:01 left. The game came down to making free throws and Punahou shot 7 of 12 in the final minute. Taylor Wu missed the layup and Moe grabbed the rebound and was fouled. She sank both foul shots to put Punahou up, 51-46.

"They (Iolani) utilized their players well, but we told our girls, who wants it more. It's going to be a possession game and you have to fight through every possession," said Kam.

Maeda made another layup to bring the Raiders within three, but Iolani came up empty handed on the offensive end. Kandiah ended up with the ball and tossed it to Abby Aplaca, who was fouled with 2.3 seconds left. She made the first, but missed the second to practically seal the game.

Punahou shot 10 of 16 from the line in the fourth quarter.

Iolani led 21-15 at halftime.