Iolani senior Jovi Wahinekapu Lefotu scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a 54-39 win over fourth-seeded Campbell in the semifinals of the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Division I Girls Basketball State Championships at Moanalua Friday night. Brian Bautista | SL

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Fri, Feb 18, 2022 @ Moanalua

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Campbell

39

Iolani

54

Final	1	2	3	4
Campbell (13-0, 14-2)	6	12	12	9	39
Iolani (11-0, 15-2)	15	11	15	13	54

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

J. Wahinekapu Lefotu 16 pts  6/7 FTs

A. Bantolina 11 pts  3/4 FTs

J. Wahinekapu Lefotu 8 tot  1 off  7 def

S. Patanapaiboon 6 tot  6 def

H. Ohta 4 ast

H. Moore 4 ast

SALT LAKE — Three in four. As in three championships in four years. 

That's what the Iolani Raiders are shooting for. 

Jaety Mandaquit and Jovi Wahinekapu Lefotu each scored 16 points and Abby Tanaka added 11 to lead top-seeded Iolani to a 54-39 semifinal win over fourth-seeded Campbell at Moanalua Friday night. 

The victory pushed the Raiders to 13-0 and sets up an opportunity at a three-peat when they take on No. 2 Konawaena in the title game of the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Division I Girls Basketball State Championships at Blaisdell Arena Saturday night. 

"Excited that we're finally getting to that point," said Wahinekapu Lefotu, who grabbed a game-high eight rebounds along with two assists, two steals and a block. 

"I mean, we've been looking for this since the beginning and we're excited. We've been preparing for this this whole time," she said. 

Even though the Raiders have won the last two state crowns, they have just one senior in Wahinekapu Lefotu, a University of Hawaii-signee. 

"It feels really awesome, very satisfying," Iolani coach Dean Young said. "You know, we got a young team — inexperienced — most of them it's their first time in the state tournament so to keep it together, play together and pull out the win is very satisfying."

Wahinekapu Lefotu got off to a strong start with eight of her team's 15 first-quarter points, including a string of six straight points that gave Iolani a 15-4 lead. 

Tanaka drained a 3-pointer from the right wing less than a minute into the second quarter that made the score 20-8. 

The Raiders made a noticeable effort on working the ball into the post after the opening quarter. 

"We had a size advantage and we had to find ways to use it," Young said. "They're not even guarding our posts on the perimeter so we had to get the ball back inside."

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Mandaquit and Wahinekapu Lefotu converted in the paint on back-to-back possessions to answer a 6-0 run by the Sabers. 

"Just trying to get our offense easy, trying to make the right play," Mandaquit said. "Whatever comes easy and whatever is given to us, we'll try our best."

Wahinekapu Lefotu agreed, "Taking advantage of mismatches and what she said, just using our energy wisely."

The closest Campbell got the rest of the way was within six after Sydney Patanapaiboon's pair of free throws cut the Iolani lead to 26-20 with 7:03 left in the third quarter. 

But Wahinekapu Lefotu and Mandaquit combined to scored 10 of Iolani's 15 points in the third quarter. 

Young said the versatility that the pair provides is vital to the Raiders' ability to take advantage of mismatches. 

"Huge, huge. I mean, they can take you off the dribble, they can shoot threes and they can post you up, too, so they're really triple-threat players and it puts a lot on pressure on the defense when they can do that," Young explained. 

Mandaquit registered three of Iolani's nine steals in a game-high 30 minutes played. 

Campbell had 20 turnovers to Iolani's 13. 

The Sabers shot 13 of 36 (36.1 percent) from the field, 0 for 4 from beyond the arc and 13 of 17 (76.5 percent) at the free-throw line. 

The Raiders were 16 of 37 (43.2 percent) on field goals, 4 for 11 (36.4 percent) on 3s and 18 of 21 (85.7 percent) from the line. 

Aliyah Bantolina had 11 points and Taysia Molina-Shulte nine for Campbell. 

"They're tough," Young said of the Sabers. "I mean, they're scrappy, they're talented, they're hard to guard. They kind of reminded me of us when we had five guards on the court. They're definitely good and they're young, so they're gonna be a force to be reckoned with next year."

Mandaquit resonated her coach's sentiment about the previously-undefeated Sabers (13-1).

"I mean, I gotta give it to them. They forced us to match their energy and always play with high intensity all game," she said. 

Campbell, the OIA champion, will play Lahainaluna for third place at 1 p.m. Saturday at Blaisdell Arena. 

Since 2010, Iolani and Konawaena have met in the state tournament seven times, including twice in the championship game. The Wildcats won the 2012 title game between the teams by a score of 56-45, but the Raiders were victorious in the 2020 state final, 55-46.

There was no state tournament in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"They're awesome, they have four returning starters from the last state championship game — I don't even have four players that were on my roster back when we played in the state championship game against them — so they got so much experience, they got talent; they're gonna be tough," Young said. 

Iolani, which is 58-22 all-time in state tournament games, will be making its 12th appearance in the championship game. 

Campbell was playing in its first semifinal and is now 3-8 all-time in five state tournament appearances.