Iolani overwhelms Roosevelt to advance to face Hilo

Brien Ing | SL

Three Raiders scored in double figures and cashed in on Roosevelt miscues to win, 59-35, in the opening round of the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Division I Boys Basketball State Championships at the Father Kenneth A. Bray Athletic Center.

Jack Jones led Iolani with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting, Taniela Taliauli dropped 13 and three triples off the bench and JJ Mandaquit had 11 points and three 3's as the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's runner up advances to take on third seed and Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion Hilo on Thursday, Feb. 24 at McKinley.

Kamuela Kaaihue scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds but Roosevelt ends their season with a 10-5 overall record.

The Raiders racked up 19 steals as the Rough Riders committed 30 turnovers.

Bailey Bumanglag did not score, but contributed in other ways to lead the team with five steals and five assists.

Iolani opened up the first quarter on a 9-0 lead following Mandaquit's 3-pointer to force an early timeout from Roosevelt. Kaaihue willed his way to the basket and scored eight points in the quarter and brought the Rough Riders within five, but Mandaquit beat the buzzer with a triple to take a 18-10 lead going into the second quarter.

Taliauli hit a pair of triples from the wings during a 10-0 run to start the second quarter and led, 28-10 after Jones' layup.

Kayman Lewis hit a 3 for the Rough Riders' first field goal at the 2:18 mark and Jaydan Gaopoa-Montgomery converted an assist from Kainoa Mizukami, but Iolani answered with a 6-0 run to close the half and went up, 34-19 at halftime.

The Raiders led by as much as 22 in the third after Taliauli's third 3-pointer. Roosevelt managed to outscore Iolani 11 to 10 in the third quarter and ended it on a 6-0 run.

Iolani's largest lead of the game was 26 late in the fourth quarter.

The Raiders shot 23 of 54 (42.6 percent) from the field and was 7 of 25 (28 percent) from the perimeter.

Roosevelt shot 16 of 40 (40 percent) from the field and was 2 of 11 (18.1 percent) from 3.

The Raiders had a slim advantage on the boards 29 to 28.

Aaron Claytor had eight points and four assists and Kaimana Lau Kong hauled down nine rebounds, and Makani Tanaka had three steals.

Lewis added seven points and two steals in the loss.