Josiah Sukumaran scored the go-ahead basket on a putback with 28 seconds remaining and then blocked Dyrbe Enos' last-second shot last night as 'Iolani squeaked past Kamehameha, 41-40, in a key early Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys basketball showdown.

The defending state champion Raiders improved to 2-0 in the ILH, while the defending state runner-up Warriors fell to 2-1.

A crowd of about 700 at 'Iolani last night watched a tight wire-to-wire matchup in which neither team led by more than eight points.

Kamehameha took a 40-39 lead with 1:03 remaining on Frank Ho's 15-foot baseline jumper from the right side, but Sukumaran put the Raiders back up after his putback off a teammate's missed layup.

Ho's 3-point attempt from the left corner glanced off the rim with 12 seconds left, and 'Iolani's Trevyn Tulonghari was fouled after grabbing the rebound. But Tulonghari missed the front end of his one-and-one, and Sukumaran committed the Raiders' sixth team foul with four seconds remaining.

After receiving the inbounds pass near mid-court, the 5-foot-9 Enos drove to the basket against the 6-3 Sukumaran and pulled up from about 13 feet, just inside the free throw line. But Sukumaran blocked the shot and 'Iolani secured the loose ball as time expired.

"We practiced it a lot -- we wanted to see if my length could affect Dyrbe," Sukumaran said of the matchup. "The other guys did a great job denying Micah (Christenson), and I tried to play off Dyrbe because he's so quick. I didn't want to give up the drive, but I also couldn't give him too much room, because he can pop it."

The Raiders had double-teamed Christenson -- last season's State Co-Player of the Year -- and the Warriors were out of timeouts.

"We didn't even want Micah to touch the ball, because once he gets it, who knows what can happen," 'Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto said. "We told Josiah to just stay in front of Dyrbe."

The Raiders jumped out to an 11-4 lead and went up, 17-9, after Reid Saito's finger-roll layup with 5:43 remaining. But Enos answered with a 3-pointer to help Kamehameha start a comeback that closed it to 20-16 by halftime.

The Warriors eventually tied it at 26-26 on Christenson's layup midway through the third period, but 'Iolani later went ahead, 36-31, after a jumper by Saito with 4:53 left in the game.

Brandon Orpillia then drained a 3-pointer one minute later to start a 9-3 run capped by Ho's basket that gave Kamehameha the lead with 1:03 remaining.

Sukumaran led the Raiders with 14 points; Enos and Christenson each scored 12 points to lead Kamehameha.

'Iolani received a surprise boost from senior post Kainoa Scheer, who suffered a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee on Monday but was cleared Wednesday night to play with a full-length leg brace.

Scheer scored six points and grabbed three rebounds in limited action.

"He's our brute force, our team captain, and we need him out there," Sukumaran said.

Added Shimamoto: "He did small things that amounted to a big difference."

Scheer is expected to rest the knee during a team trip to the Torrey Pines (San Diego) Holiday Classic from Dec. 27-30. Kamehameha also will play in that tournament, though in a different bracket from 'Iolani.

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