Iolani's Ikaika Phillip puts up a shot in the paint against Punahou. Nick Endo | Special to SL

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Punahou's Kanawai Noa puts up a fall-away jumper against Iolani. Celine Troung | Special to SL

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Punahou's Ikaika Phillip and Zach Buscher battle Punahou's Kanawai Noa for a rebound. Jessica Oda | Special to SL

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Wed, Jan 15, 2014 @ Punahou

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Iolani

46

Punahou

34

Final	1	2	3	4
Iolani (10-3, 23-7)	14	10	11	0	46
Punahou (7-5, 22-5)	6	15	0	0	34

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

J. Kam 7 pts  1 3pm  2/2 FTs

I. Phillip 12 pts  6/6 FTs

B. Wade 9 tot  3 off  6 def

Z. Buscher 9 tot  2 off  7 def

D. Watanabe 2 ast

Z. Buscher 2 ast

No. 3 'Iolani bounced back from a tough loss to Maryknoll last week to topple No. 1 Punahou, 46-34 at Punahou's Hemmeter Fieldhouse on Wednesday night. The loss ended Punahou's 18-game winning streak after going 15-0 in the preseason and 3-0 to start in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. Punahou's last loss dates back to last year's state tournament when they lost to Kalaheo in overtime.

"We're trying to keep pace in this league. Getting that state tournament berth is on top of our list and getting this win keeps us in pace with everyone else. So we're very happy about it," said 'Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto.

Punahou played without Daniel Andrews, who hurt his knee during warmups. The 6-foot 7 Andrews is Punahou's second leading scorer with 12.7 points per game and his absence left a big void as 'Iolani tried to take advantage of it in the paint.

"He injured himself during warmups somehow and we were down a couple bigs. It's tough we had a lot of adversity and it's a good life lesson for us and I'm proud of my guys. They played their hearts out and the effort was there. Our execution wasn't as good as we needed it to be, but I think they had a lot of mental adversity to deal with," said Punahou coach Darren Matsuda.

"He's more than just a big guy. He's a versatile player, he can pick-and-pop, he can post and finish inside and he affects balls on the defensive end. He's a good player and they were definitely missing him," said Shimamoto, on Andrews.

The Raiders outrebounded the Buffanblu 32-23. Zach Buscher had nine rebounds and Ikaika Phillip grabbed eight rebounds. 6-foot 7 freshman center Hugh Hogland had six rebounds and four blocks for the game.

'Iolani was able to get it going offensively as they jumped out to a 10-4 lead after Pikai Winchester found a cutting Zach Gelacio who made the layup. Hogland dribbled to his left and put up a shot deep in the paint before the buzzer sounded to put the Raiders up 14-6.

"We were patient and we were attacking the basket. Our guys made good plays and we were working on attacking and finishing all week and I'm glad to see the guys execute and actually get those finishes," said Shimamoto.

Punahou got out to an 8-2 run to start the second quarter. The Buffanblu made 3 of 6 from behind the 3-point line in the quarter. After two consecutive Punahou 3-pointers from Dayson Watanabe and Micah Ma'a, Watanabe drove it in for a layup to cut the deficit to 1, 20-19.

"They're a good team, they hit a contested 3 from the corner and 25-foot 3 from the top of the key and they're good shooters. I expect that out of them the whole time and when they made that comeback I wasn't surprised," said Shimamoto, on Punahou's second quarter run.

However, Zach Buscher made two free throws to give 'Iolani a 24-21 lead heading into halftime.

In the third quarter, 'Iolani pushed the lead to 10 after Ikaika Phillip drove it and kicked it out to Winchester for a 3-pointer from the left corner to make it 31-21. Punahou was scoreless after going  0 of 14 from the field, including 0 of 7 from the 3-point line. The Buffanblu shot 23.8 percent (5 of 21) from behind the arc for the game. 'Iolani led 35-21 going into the fourth quarter and the 14 point margin was the largest of the game.

"We were sound defensively and our positioning was right we did a good job knowing their personnel," said Shimamoto, on his defense.

"I think we hit a really bad scoring slump, and we couldn't put the ball in the basket. We got a lot of looks that we wanted, but we couldn't put it in. Credit to them too, they played really good defense and we play a same style of basketball so they played better than we did today," said Matsuda.

In the fourth quarter, Justin Kam hit a 3-pointer near the top of the arc to end Punahou's scoring drought with just under six minutes left in the quarter. Kanawai Noa hit a pull up jumper in transition to make it 35-27 and the Raiders called timeout at 5:06. The Buffanblu picked up the defensive intensity with traps, full court and half court presses. Punahou's Randon Oda had a steal and layup  to make it 42-31 and Punahou called a full timeout with 1:34 remaining.

However, the Buffanblu could not get any closer and 'Iolani closed it out with free throws. The Raiders went 11 of 16 from the free throw line for all of their 11 quarter points. They shot 70.8 percent (17 of 24) from the free throw line for the game.

"We work a lot on free throws and anytime you have a close game that it's going to come down to free throws and when we get those opportunities, we take advantage of them," said Shimamoto.

Despite losing their first game of the season, coach Matsuda appreciated his team's fight and determination.

"I think the whole game, the adversity they had to face with one of the top players going down literally two minutes before the game and there's a lot to learn about that and we're going to talk about it and I asked my players to play as hard as they can and give me the best they can and they did and I'm proud of them and I'm more proud of them I've ever been this whole year and we lost, and it was our first loss but the effort was incredible," said Matsuda.

Punahou will have to put this loss behind them quickly as they travel across the street to play at No. 2 Maryknoll, (4-0 in the ILH) on Jan. 17 at 6:30 pm. 'Iolani hosts Saint Louis (1-3) on Jan. 18 at 5 pm. Both teams will meet each other again at 'Iolani on Feb. 5 at 6 pm in the last game of the ILH regular season.