Iolani's Erik Yamada puts up a shot against Kalani. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Sat, Dec 13, 2014 @ Moanalua

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Iolani

55

Kalani

42

Final	1	2	3	4
Iolani (8-4, 18-8)	7	17	16	15	55
Kalani (5-9, 11-17)	18	6	9	9	42

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

K. Nishimura 12 pts  3 3pm  1/2 FTs

H. Hogland 17 pts  5/6 FTs

J. Robinson 2 tot  1 off  1 def

H. Hogland 7 tot  2 off  5 def

C. Mitchell 3 ast

E. Yamada 3 ast

Hugh Hogland scored a game-high 17 points and Iolani overcame a poor first quarter to down Kalani, 55-42, Saturday night at the OIA-ILH Challenge boys' basketball tournament at Moanalua.

The defending Interscholastic League of Honolulu and Division I state champion Raiders (5-1) jumped out to a 7-0 lead, only to see the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II Falcons (2-3) use a 16-0 run to end first quarter with an 18--7 lead.

"I think we were doing a lot of things bad," Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto said of his team's slow start. "We knew that they were good scorers, good shooters. We knew we wanted to do a good job of cutting penetration and getting a hand up on their shooters. For that stretch, we didn't do it. If you don't do it against them, they're going to knock 'em down."

The Falcons drained three of their seven 3-pointers during the 16-0 stretch, two from Kapaa Nishimura and one from Blaise Manabe.

Iolani regained its composure by opening the second quarter with a 15-0 run to take a 22-18 lead. Kapaa Nishimura's second 3-pointer gave Kalani a 24-22 lead, but the Raiders tied the game at 24 with 58 seconds left in the half on two free throws by Hogland. The teams took that score into the break.

Iolani effectively closed down the driving lanes, limiting Kalani to 3 3-pointers in the third quarter, as the Raiders opened their lead to 40-33. The Raiders used their size to out-rebound the Falcons, 25-8. Hogland had six points off offensive boards.

The Raiders finished the Challenge 2-1, losing to Farrington on Thursday then beating Leilehua on Friday. The tournament pits ILH against OIA teams.

Iolani is still finding its way with the graduation of All-Hawaii pick Ikaika Phillip (12. 7 points per game) and Zach Buscher (11 ppg.).

"I still feel we have a long way to go," Shimamoto said. "I think everyone kind of feels that way. This only the third week of our season and I feel we have about 50 percent of the stuff we need to get in in. Guys are only 50 percent of the way until knowing what their roles are going to be this year, as opposed to last year. "

Iolani played without Pikai Winchester, who felt a twinge in his knee during warmups, Shimamoto said.

"It was one of those things where it wouldn't hurt to rest him," Shimamoto said. "We need him for the season. It was more precautionary. He said he wanted to go, but the smart thing was to rest him."

The Raiders' next test is their annual Iolani Classic, which starts Tuesday. Iolani opens with Kauai, a Division II school. The Raiders will play the winner of Kamehameha-Oak Hill on Thursday.

"Of the things that we put in, we want to be good at those," Shimamoto said of his team's expectations in the Classic. "Hopefully, we get the opportunity to play against some of the Mainland teams and we just want to see where we stand up. It's always a good measure of where we're at as a team and where we're at individually to go up against top-caliber guys."