As is often the case, the scorebook doesn't always tell the full story of a game.

Case in point: Iolani's 62-56 win over Maryknoll in Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I boys basketball action Tuesday night.

Two of the Raiders — Bryson Hamada and Nick Kennedy — appeared to be non-factors in the tightly-contested regular-season finale for both teams. At least on the surface. Hamada scored zero points and fouled out, while Kennedy didn't even get in the game.

Nonetheless, their contributions were key factors to Iolani's win.

Hamada, a senior guard, played unrelenting man-to-man defense against Maryknoll standout Justice Sueing — the ILH's leading scorer entering the game at 20.8 points per game.

"He did a good job on Justice," Spartans' coach Kelly Grant said of Hamada. "He played physical and denied him the ball a lot of times."

Sueing, a 6-foot-5 guard, was held to 2-of-12 shooting from the field and finished with 15 points — his lowest scoring output of the regular season. He got all but four of his points at the free-throw line Tuesday.

"Justice is a really, really, really good player and he's been single-handedly beating teams, scoring in the 20's pretty much every game and getting to the line, so we really just wanted him to work for everything he got," Raiders' coach Dean Shimamoto said. "Bryson played smart. He did a good job of denying him and then playing him when he did have the ball."

Hamada bought into his role, shadowing Sueing's every move and getting a hand in his face on nearly every shot attempt.

"Coach just told me my job was to go out there and just get stops and that's what I tried to do tonight," Hamada said. "Anything to help the team win."

Shimamoto praised Hamada, but also noted the support he received from his teammates.

"As hard as Bryson worked, there were four other guys behind him when all this was happening, so when he was pushing up, that means Kamu (Borden) or Hugh (Hogland) was standing back there," Shimamoto said. "Someone else was in a drive lane and you saw guys converge on that and yet still be able to get out to shooters, so as great as Bryson did it was really a team effort."

Hamada's teammate, Zach Gelacio — who scored a season-high 18 points Tuesday — said Hamada's tenacity on defense provided a boost for the rest of the team.

"Once he gets going, we know he can stop almost anybody," Hamada said. "We see him working, we see him getting stops and it helps all of us to want to help him out, grab boards and finish plays."

As for Kennedy's contributions to the win?

"We had him as Justice Sueing in practice all week and he did a great job," Hamada said of the junior. "I want to give credit to him, because I think he really got me ready for tonight and it just feels good to go out on senior night with a win like this."