Jourdan Simmonds drained a 3-pointer from the right corner with three seconds remaining Tuesday to lift 'Iolani to a 48-45 victory over Mason County (Maysville, Ky.) and seventh place in the 27th Annual 'Iolani Prep Classic.

The defending state champion Raiders have little time to celebrate, as they face defending state runner-up Kamehameha at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in a crucial Interscholastic League of Honolulu showdown.

"This is all big preparation for Kamehameha," 'Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto said.

The Raiders can feel good about Thursday's game not just because they are coming off a victory, but because of how they earned it -- through improved effort and execution.

After a lackluster 73-50 loss to Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) on Monday, 'Iolani displayed a noticeable boost in energy level from the outset Tuesday. The Raiders trailed 10-4 in the early going but eventually took the lead at 24-23 after Adam Ching's 3-pointer late in the second period.

They led, 26-25, at halftime.

The game remained tight throughout the second half and the Royals tied it at 45-45 on Jordan Gilbert's 3-pointer with 1:07 left in the fourth quarter. As time wound down, Simmonds found an open spot in the right corner and swished the go-ahead 3-pointer with three seconds remaining.

"We ran the play and the first option wasn't open, so we went with the second," Shimamoto said. "In general, Jourdan has had to play a big role for us because we needed a point guard and kind of converted him into one. He was more of a scoring guard, and he struggled at first, but he's come a long way."

Simmonds, who saw only limited action last season, was thrust into the starting point guard role when senior Ammon Baldomero decided to play soccer instead and sophomore Reece Foy was lost for the season after surgery on his left wrist.

'Iolani also received relief support from backup post Keahi Hogan, who filled in for injured starter Kainoa Scheer on short notice. Scheer suffered a possible torn medial collateral ligament in Monday's loss to Wheeler and is expected to be out of action for at least two weeks.

"Keahi hasn't played a ton of minutes, but he was huge for us today," Shimamoto said. "He's very vocal on defense, which is what we needed."

Mason County went 25-7 last season, won its region and reached the Kentucky state semifinals, but Royals coach Chris O'Hearn said the Raiders should not have been considered an underdog on Tuesday.

"I think they come into a game like this very loose and with a lot of confidence," O'Hearn said. "I was very impressed that they were only down 13 points to (No. 1-ranked) Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) in the third quarter. (Today) they executed well, found the open man at the end and hit a big shot. They would be very competitive in our league."

Josiah Sukumaran and Trevyn Tulonghari each scored 12 points to lead 'Iolani. Mason County was led by Gilbert's 18 points, and Treg Setty added 14 points.

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