The Iolani bench erupts and celebrates their comeback win over the Spartans to clinch a state tournament berth. Brandon Ching | SL

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Mon, Jan 23, 2023 @ Maryknoll

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Iolani

41

Maryknoll

36

Final	1	2	3	4
Iolani (12-3, 20-5)	1	7	13	20	41
Maryknoll (11-4, 20-5)	6	10	12	8	36

C. Tugade-Agasiva 18 pts  6/8 FTs

M. Sake 13 pts  3/4 FTs

It looked bleak early on, but the Raiders pulled through in the end.

No. 2 Iolani erased a 13-point deficit and rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 1 Maryknoll, 41-35, in an ILH Division I playoff tiebreaker game at the Clarence T. C. Ching Gymnasium Monday.

The Raiders (11-2) clinch a state tournament berth as well as the top seed in the single elimination tournament on Tuesday and hosts No. 9 Kamehameha-Kapalama (6-7) at 5 p.m.

"We're in states. We're happy about that. We still have more work to do and we play tomorrow. But it is a big relief to get into the state tournament," Iolani assistant coach Cy Ohta said.

The Spartans (10-3) claim the second seed to host No. 8 Punahou (5-7) at 6 p.m. 

Mele Sake finished with 13 points before fouling out late in the fourth, Paige Oh added 10 points, Mia Frye chipped in eight, and Haylie-Anne Ohta with seven.

Iolani trailed 28-21 entering the fourth. The Raiders lined up horizontally free throw line extended and Callie Pieper hit Ohta on a backdoor cut on the opening possession.

"We needed something. We had a hard time scoring. Coach Dean (Young) threw that in two days ago to be honest. That worked and that got us going. We threw a press and that helped us," coach Ohta said.

Not long after, Frye drew a blocking foul as her layup dropped.

"I knew our team needed energy to get everyone up. Just taking it was the best opportunity and hoping for the best," Frye said of the 3-point play.

"She brings a lot and plays so hard. She gives us extra possessions, she plays tough ‘D', she rebounds, she's fast as hell. You see her run, she's super quick. She's only a sophomore so hopefully that's a building block for the future," coach Ohta said of Frye.

She converted the 3-point play at the 7:33 mark to bring the Raiders within two, 28-26. Sake backed into the paint and her shot tied the game at 28.

"We played less aggressive in the first half and we picked it up in the second half. We knew we had to pick it up," Sake said.

Oh nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner off a kick out pass at around the 5:52 mark to give Iolani their first lead of the game, 31-28. Sake converted an assist from Pieper to extend it to five. Ciera Tugade-Agasiva and Oh traded buckets before Taimane Faleafine-Auwae brought the Spartans within three with 3:33 to go.

Oh got to the free throw line to hit the bonus free throws and five seconds later, Isabella Arrisgado's pass went long turning over and giving it back to Iolani. Ohta hit the one-and-one free throws for a 39-32 lead.

Tugade-Agasiva got to the free throw line with 51.8 seconds remaining and converted both to get Maryknoll within five, 39-34. Ohta missed the front end of the one-and-one and Tugade-Agasiva was wide open in transition to close the gap to three. Oh split the double bonus free throws to put Iolani up four with 19.1 seconds left.

Arrisgado's pull-up 3-pointer went long and Ohta was fouled and hit the second of the double bonus free throw to complete the 20-point fourth quarter.

Tugade-Agasiva led all scorers with 18 points and shot 6-for-8 from the free throw line and Faleafine-Auwae added 10 in the loss.

Both teams struggled in the first quarter to score. Faleafine-Auwae hit a baseline jumper early in the quarter and Tugade-Agasiva made a pair of free throws with 1:55 left. Hailey Fernandez was fouled on a 3-pointer attempt, but went 1-for-3 for the Raiders' only points. Faleafine-Auwae hit a turnaround as Maryknoll took a 6-1 lead.

"Our team plays for each other and that's the main thing. No matter what we have each others' back. Even if we're scoring one in the first quarter and no matter and to get the dub," Frye said.

Tugade-Agasiva hit a long jumper to make it, 10-3. Sake scored Iolani's first field goal by following up on her own miss and Pieper was fouled but could not complete the 3-point play and trailed, 10-7.

Iolani struggled in the first half and only made two field goals.

Dylan Neves accounted for five-straight points with a 3-pointer and a drive during Maryknoll's 6-1 run to close out the quarter. Oh's near-half court heave was no good as time expired and she tried to draw contact but to no avail as Maryknoll led, 16-8.

"We missed about six or seven wide-open layups. Defensively we thought we were alright. They had 16 points but we told the kids to stick with it and shots will fall," coach Ohta said.

Frye opened the third quarter with a five-point run on her own but Hailey Perez buried a triple near the right wing. Oh hit a shot in the lane, but Tugade-Agasiva responded with consecutive baskets to put Maryknoll up eight.

After Tugade-Agasiva hit the second free throw, Faleafine-Auwae scored on the left block and then the right block to make it, 28-15 with 2:51 to go. Iolani chipped away at the 13-point lead by closing the quarter on a 6-0 run. Ohta hit her free throws and Sake scored the next four points. Oh drove and hit a rolling Sake to the basket before the buzzer to trail by seven going into the fourth.

"We tried something different because our offense wasn't working in the first half. They kept jumping the screens so we were able to roll backdoor," Sake said.

The season series are tied 2-2. Maryknoll won the first two meetings, 47-46 on Dec. 17 and 43-22 on Jan. 7 while Iolani won 48-47 on Jan. 18 and tonight's contest.