Seizing control midway through the second period, 'Iolani motored past visiting Punahou and won, 51-41, last night to move into a first-place tie with the Buffablu atop the Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls basketball standings.

Both are 6-2, with four games remaining in the regular season.

Punahou led, 14-9, after Mysha Sataraka's twisting bank shot with 3:52 remaining in the first half, but Kaitlyn Shikada answered with two free throws 10 seconds later to start the Raiders on an 11-2 run going into the break.

The Buffanblu closed it to 20-19 on Hailey Maeda's layup with 6:11 remaining in the third period, but then went five scoreless minutes and 'Iolani took a 29-25 lead into the fourth.

Maeda sank one of two free throws to make it 33-31 with 5:44 left in the game, but Punahou could not close the gap as the Raiders maintained an up-tempo pace with constant full-court pressure.

Shikada drained a 3-pointer from the left corner with 2:29 remaining and Kylie Maeda followed with a pair of free throws 13 seconds later to extend the lead to 45-35, and the Buffanblu could not get closer than seven points the rest of the way.

"We told the girls it wasn't the prettiest (victory), but at least they found a way to get it done," 'Iolani coach Eddie Maruyama said. "Last time (a 46-42 loss at Punahou on Dec. 16), we couldn't finish."

Punahou coach Mike Taylor said his players did not respond well to the Raiders' pressure defense.

"There's no mystery to it -- we simulate it in practice by going five-on-seven," Taylor said. "But when the game comes and it's five-on-five, we couldn't do it. The girls stopped trusting one another and we weren't giving the ball to the open (player). 'Iolani outhustled us, they competed harder, and we just stood and took it."

Maruyama said another key was keeping the Buffanblu off the boards.

"They had 15 offensive rebounds in the first half," Maruyama said. "We told the girls if we could keep them to under five (in the second half), we'll be in good shape."

Junior guard Kylie Maeda scored a game-high 16 points to lead the Raiders. Sophomore post Alex Masaquel added 14 points and sophomore guard Saphyre Rezentes contributed 10 points.

Sataraka led Punahou with 15 points.

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