Iolani's Hugh Hogland swats a Punahou shot attempt. He had a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds with four blocks in the win. John Lujan | Special to SL

Purchase image 1 of 1

Tue, Jan 12, 2016 @ Iolani

---

Punahou

33

Iolani

53

Final	1	2	3	4
Punahou (9-6, 27-9)	7	10	6	10	33
Iolani (9-5, 19-9)	9	17	10	17	53

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

Z. Gelacio 14 pts  1 3pm  7/8 FTs

J. Tufono 8 pts  0/6 FTs

H. Hogland 13 tot  3 off  10 def

J. Tufono 6 tot  5 off  1 def

B. Alabanza 3 ast

H. Lee 3 ast

When they were pushed, the Iolani Raiders pushed back harder.

Iolani overwhelmed visiting Punahou in a physical battle, 53-33 in its Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I home-opener Tuesday night. 

The Raiders, ranked fifth in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Boys Basketball Power Rankings, outscored the sixth-ranked Buffanblu in every quarter to improve to 2-1 in league play and 9-5 overall.

"Every win the ILH is big, whether you win by two or you win by 20, it doesn't matter," said Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto. "If you can come out with one it's big, but it's also good to feel like you played well."

Punahou was held to 25 percent shooting from the field (13 of 52) and dropped to 1-2 and 16-4.

"We were moving on defense," said 6-foot-8 center Hugh Hogland, who led the effort with four blocks. "Coach Dean talks about flow and we were like water out there. We were just moving and moving and we didn't let them get a good shot off." 

Hogland made five of his final six shots to post a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds and Zach Gelacio scored a game-high 14 points to lead the Raiders. Robby Mann and Helam Baldomero added eight and seven points respectively to round out Iolani's top scorers.

The tone of the game was set early on as Iolani chipped away to a 9-7 lead after the first stanza. The Raiders did not shy away from Punahou's aggressive press and drew six fouls within the first four minutes of the game. 

"I think the ILH is going to be physical this year," said Shimamoto. "We had physical games against Kamehameha and Saint Louis last week so I think that's the norm at this point. Our guys are used to it so they're not caught off guard so it's great to see them play tough." 

Punahou kept it close early by utilizing 6-foot-5 center Jack-Eli Thompson-Tufono's girth against Hogland, which produced favorable results. Thompson-Tufono had the edge early as he scored four points in the first quarter while Hogland went 0-for-4 from the field. 

Iolani broke the game wide open with a 12-2 run to start the second period to take a commanding 21-9 lead before the midway point of the frame. The Raiders would go on to take a 26-17 lead at the break after shooting 6-for-8 from the field in the second quarter. 

"Our team is resilient," said Hogland. "We've been all through this before, especially the leaders, me, Zach and Robby. We're tough. If we get pushed around we'll push right back." 

Punahou, who committed 25 total fouls in the contest, made it a seven-point game early in the third quarter before Iolani ran away with it. The Buffanblu also converted on just two of their 11 free throw attempts while Iolani was 18-for-28 at the line.

"Today just wasn't our day," said Punahou coach Darren Matsuda. "We were executing a lot of the stuff that we wanted to and we had good looks, but all the way from free throws to regular shots we just couldn't hit them. I think that took a lot of our energy away from us."