---

KAKAAKO—Top seed and ranked Iolani survived a scare from No. 5 and unseeded Campbell and rallied for a 52-47 win in the quarterfinal round of the HHSAA/Heide & Cook Division I Girls Basketball State Championships at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium Wednesday.

Mia Frye played 31 of the 32 minutes to lead the Raiders (21-2 overall) with 16 points, eight rebounds, and blocked a potential go-ahead 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter.

Mele Sake scored nine of her 13 points in the fourth quarter and Justice Kekauoha added 13 on 6-of-8 shooting.

Similar to the ILH final against Kamehameha-Kapalama heading into the fourth quarter with a deficit, the Raiders pulled through once again.

"Similar to that game, we just chose to keep our composure. When we do that we really do well and execute better," Sake said.

"It shows how gritty our team is and hard working we are. We don't really experience being down as often. Today it tested us and it showed how gritty we are and we are not going to give up," Hailey Fernandez added.

Iolani trailed 42-31 to start the fourth quarter but Sake sparked a 7-0 run. She drew a fourth foul Tehani Docktor to split a pair of free throws and the Raiders went back to her in the post as she scored the next four points. Frye hit a jumper to get Iolani within four, 42-38.

"We started pressing and started getting some turnovers. Making sure we take care of each possession and getting it to Mele helped too. She had the mismatch and Tehani was in foul trouble. Giving it to her was crucial," Fernandez said.

"I think putting in the press and dropping back into the zone was a momentum change and that brought up our energy and it was a good call by the coaches to do that," Frye said.

Sotelo put the Sabers ahead, 44-38 on a drive at the 5:05 mark. Fernandez picked off a pass and got it to Frye, who scored in transition to get Iolani within two.

Kekauoha found Fernandez, who tied the game at 44 and Sake forced a turnover and gave the Raiders a 46-44 lead with 2:16 to go. Aliyah Bantolina kicked it out to Jaynalyn Sotelo, who drained the 3-pointer for a 47-46 lead.

"Coming into the fourth, it was one possession at a time. One possession, one possession. We were confident in our defense would pull through. Switching to a 2-3 zone helped us a lot and pressing too. We were motivated and encouraging," Fernandez said.

Sake was fouled but could not convert the 3-point play to make it, 48-47 with 55 seconds left. Docktor missed a jumper near the baseline but got her own rebound. Taysia Molina-Schulte had a 3-point look from the left wing, but Frye blocked the attempt and secured the rebound and was fouled. She hit both free throws with 12 seconds left.

"Taysia was hitting 3s tonight and I knew I had to do something and I closed out as hard as I could was my only option," Frye said of the block.

"That was really big because we need to work on our rebounding and that was their second or third chance on that possession so that was a big help," Sake said.

The Raiders had fouls to give and Campbell had 2.9 seconds with the inbounds from the sideline. Iolani clamped down on defense and forced a five-second violation on Cayden Parado turning it over.

"Our team dynamic is really strong this year and we're super close. We're a family and having each others' backs helps," Frye said.

Frye was fouled a couple times and swished both foul shots to put the game away with 0.4 left.

"We came out really slow and really sloppy. I think we didn't have the energy we usually have. The fourth quarter we had to turn it up or we weren't going to win the game. We had no other choice but to fight until the end and we couldn't give up," Frye said.

The Raiders shot 8 for 10 (80 percent) from the field and was 5 of 7 from the free throw line, while the Sabers were 2 of 10 from the field and 1 of 6 from 3 in the final period.

Sotelo scored a team-high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting and Molina-Schulte added 12 points off three 3-pointers as the Sabers (18-6 overall) fall to the consolation bracket to face Waiakea at 5 p.m. at Moanalua.

The Sabers led 14-8 after the first quarter and extended the lead to nine following a 3-pointer from Shanna Sardon. A 9-2 run got the Raiders within two, but Molina-Schulte and Bantolina hit consecutive triples for a 25-19 lead.

"This game was a bad game to have a wake up call but we needed it and hopefully it transitions into our next state games," Frye said.

Kanoe Hanohano got the Raiders within two off a pair of foul shots, but Molina-Schulte split a pair for a 28-25 lead at halftime.

Sake brought the Raiders within one, but that was short-lived as Docktor hit a 3-pointer that started a 10-0 run. Sotelo scored four and Molina-Schulte buried a 3-pointer before Bantolina put the Sabers ahead, 41-27, to stun the Iolani crowd.

Frye and Kekauoha scored the final quarter points for the Raiders and Sotelo split a pair of free throws and blocked Frye's shot attempt to end the period.

Bantolina scored nine points and dished out four assists while Docktor grabbed eight rebounds.

Iolani shot 21 of 39 (53.8 percent) from the field while Campbell shot 17 of 41 (41.5 percent).

The Raiders won the boards, outrebounding the Sabers, 27 to 21. The Sabers won the turnover battle, committing 14 turnovers to the Raiders' 16.

The two teams met last year and in 2022 in the semifinals as Iolani prevailed both times.

Iolani's last loss in the quarterfinal round was in 2018 when they fell to Lahainaluna, 38-36.