Iolani's Robby Mann soars for a layup against Punahou. He scored a game-high 21 points in the Raiders' playoff win. John Lujan | Special to SL

Purchase image 1 of 1

Sat, Feb 6, 2016 @ Kamehameha

---

Punahou

35

Iolani

40

F/OT	1	2	3	4	OT
Punahou (9-6, 27-9)	10	9	5	9	2	35
Iolani (9-5, 19-9)	9	9	13	2	7	40

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

R. Mann 21 pts  5/6 FTs

C. Kobayashi 7 pts  1 3pm  0/0 FTs

H. Hogland 10 tot  2 off  8 def

A. Troske 7 tot  1 off  6 def

H. Hogland 4 ast

C. Arceneaux 4 ast

KAPALAMA HEIGHTS — It's always nice to have star players in the playoffs.

Robby Mann scored a game-high 21 points — his third straight 20-point performance — and Hugh Hogland had a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards to help Iolani down Punahou in overtime, 40-35 in the first semifinal at Kekuhaupio Gymnasium Saturday night.

The playoff game was part of the tiebreaker process between four teams that finished the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I regular season with a 6-4 record. The winner of the regular season in the ILH automatically receives one of the league's two berths into the D1 state tournament.

Iolani, who is ranked second in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Boys Basketball Power Rankings, will host Saint Louis in the playoff final on Monday at 6:30 p.m. The Crusaders dispatched Kamehameha, 69-58 in the second semifinal.

It was the Raiders' fourth win in a row as they improved to 7-4 and 14-8 overall. Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto attributed the team's winning streak to the leadership abilities of Mann, Hogland and senior guard Zach Gelacio.

"Over the last week and a half they have really stepped it up as leaders," Shimamoto said. "It's not just in their production on the court, but what they're doing for us off the court and emotionally. They kind of are second coaches on the floor. They've really done a great job."

Hogland scored on a jump hook to begin the overtime period and assisted on Mann's layup on the next possession to give Iolani the lead for good.

"Towards the end we were trying to take responsibility on ourselves and just take it to the hold and put the team on our backs," said Mann, who added seven rebounds.

Punahou (6-5, 21-7) had a chance with the Raiders missing four straight free throw attempts and a basket by Akahi Troske, but could not buy a bucket in the final minute despite having multiple shot attempts on back-to-back possessions.

"I'm proud of my kids. They played tough," said Punahou coach Darren Matsuda. "We had a few balls for us that didn't drop. If those balls drop for us, it's a totally different ball game. We gave a good effort, so did they. I thought it was a classic ball game. Just two teams battling it out. It went their way this time.

The Buffanblu were held to 16-for-50 shooting in the loss. Hogland, who stands at 6-foot-9, had two blocks and a steal to lead the defensive effort.

"That's definitely the obstacle when you play Iolani," Matsuda said in reference to Hogland. "They're a very good defensive team on the perimeter and they got a 6-foot-9 guy that anchors the paint."

Mann started the contest with a fast break dunk before Punahou went on a 6-0 run to take a two-point lead in the first quarter. The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the period with the Buffanblu clinging on to a 10-9 advantage heading into the second stanza.

Punahou had the lead for much of the second quarter as its multiple lineups kept Iolani at bay. The Buffanblu maintained their one-point lead, 19-18 at the half.

Iolani was able to reclaim the lead for a spell, 22-21 on Mann's give-and-go with Hogland in the third quarter. Although Punahou responded on Chris Kobayashi's 3-point make, the Raiders used a 7-0 run to take a 31-24 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

"I think it was just heart," Mann said on the third quarter swing. "I think everyone just wanted to win a lot more and we just grinding away."

The Buffanblu held Iolani to just one basket in the fourth quarter and clawed their way back into the contest. Cole Mausolf's corner triple cut it to a one-possession game and Jared Lum's runner off the glass tied it at 33-all with 4:15 left in regulation.

After a pair of turnovers, Iolani retained possession after the officials conferred and reversed a call with 2:05 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Raiders then dribbled the rest of the clock out before calling timeout with 14.1 ticks left on the scoreboard. Gelacio's layup at the buzzer was no good and the game went to overtime.