Greg Yamamoto | SL

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MANOA— Through all the ups and downs, the Iolani Raiders are kings of the court to complete this wild and unpredictable 2015-2016 basketball season.

"A lot of relief and gratification for sure. Knowing how hard the season was and how good the teams were. To come out on top is, I don't what to call it, maybe surprising? But also it's great," said Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto, who won his third title as a head coach.

Iolani won their first title since 2014—their 11th overall. It wasn't easy given the parity of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu night to night.

During a late stretch in January, the Raiders dropped three-straight games by a total of seven points to Maryknoll, Kamehameha and Punahou in that order.

Sometimes the ball bounces a certain way and Iolani seized the opportunity—especially when it came down to the four-team playoff just to set up the single elimination tournament. Although they may have dropped that game to Kamehameha in the postseason semis, they were able to regroup and beat Punahou for the overall ILH title.

The Raiders play a grind it out style of basketball each and every night so you could sense they will make a late push in the latter part of the ILH season. Due to the culture, system, the right pieces, and the right circumstances, they were able to make that push.

"Everyday we tried to get better, every loss we refocused and fixed things. What you saw tonight was the best version of ourselves. If we stick to this formula everyday so in the end you should be the best, right? I think that's how it happened," said Shimamoto.

Iolani turned it around to win nine of their next 10 games to win the title.

Last year, the Raiders were on the other side as they watched Kalaheo hoist the big koa trophy and cut down the net. It was a bitter taste that fueled the team to push harder through sprints up Wilhelmina Rise or demanding weight lifting sessions.

"It motivated us the whole time," said Hogland, who averaged 15.6 points per game in the state tournament,

"They wanted it, they didn't want that feeling from last year to happen again. If you could see our workouts in the offseason. They were focused and went after it and never complained, they busted their butts. They had to do so many more things beyond that and they worked so hard since it ended last year," said Shimamoto.

The Raiders were 4-1 against the Buffanblu this season, which was no easy feat.

"Nothing gets by them and we don't catch them off guard, they don't catch us off guard. It comes down to playing tough basketball. Look how young they are and it's scary. Fortunately we got one this year, because we are going to have to deal with them for next few years," said Shimamoto.

Disciplined defense has been a standard for these Iolani teams and it carried them throughout the season. Their tournament foes shot a total of 40-for-147 (27.2 percent) from the field.

The Raiders will lose leadership in Robby Mann and Zach Gelacio and solid contributions from Nick Kennedy. However, Hogland will return for his senior season and some underclassmen will step up and be in the mix.

"The leaders of this team, Robby (Mann) and Zach (Gelacio) have been through it before—they won and lost and been through it all. I'm speechless and they do a great job with this team. We're such a family and it's completely different from last year. I'm so proud of this team," said Hogland.