A single missed free throw could be the difference between taco triumph and school lunch letdown.

Iolani currently leads by the slimmest of margins, two-tenths of a percent over second-place Campbell in the Taco Bell Free Throw Challenge.

At stake, a literal fiesta of Mexican goodness, all courtesy of our good friends over at Taco Bell.

A lot of factors still hang in the balance. The Sabers are 'in the clubhouse' with league play completed, but are currently one-game short of a full season's worth of numbers submitted, so that percentage could very well go up or down depending. Kahuku, who has already qualified for the challenge statswise, sits pretty in third place just 0.8 of a percent back at 70.5, and could very well win the taco party when all is said and done.

One would think that a Mexican smorgasbord can't rank nearly as significant or important as the push for the ILH overall league title and a seeded berth in the upcoming Division I state tournament, but not according to Iolani head coach Dean Shimamoto.

"We looked before the game (versus Maryknoll on Feb 18) and we were in the lead for the Taco Bell Challenge and we won it last year and we want to win it again," remarked Shimamoto.

Having already tasted the spoils of victory, the returning Raiders from the 2014 squad certainly would love a repeat buffet of crunchy corn-shelled bliss, but if winning state titles is the real prize to be claimed at the end of February, here are a few nteresting tidbits to ponder.

> Iolani won last year's challenge after shooting at a 75.1 percent clip, easily besting second-place Kalaheo who shot just over 69. The byproduct of success at the stripe? A Division I state title.

> Fast forward to this year's campaign, and it is the Raiders again atop the leaderboard in not only percentage, but also in free throws made (199). Iolani is also second to only Kalaheo in attempts (279 to 282), but with 3 fewer games.

> The Raiders average 18 attempts in league play, and thus, need to hit on at least 13 of 18 attempts in order to continue to sit atop the challenge standings.

> A Raiders' win Friday night at Hemmeter means that one final league play would need to played to decide the overall league champion, so the drama would continue for at least one more night.

Tacos aside, a good showing tonight against Punahou, particularly at the free throw line, would certainly help bring the Raiders an critical step closer to securing yet another league crown and seeded berth into the state tourney.