Josiah Sukumaran drained a 27-foot shot at the buzzer Saturday afternoon, lifting 'Iolani to a thrilling 45-42 road victory over Punahou in Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys basketball action.

An estimated crowd of about 1,000 at Hemmeter Fieldhouse watched the defending state champion Raiders improve to 5-1 in ILH play, a half-game behind first-place Academy of the Pacific (6-1). The Buffanblu fell into third place at 7-2, one game ahead of Kamehameha (5-2).

"This is very big, because we already have one loss," said Sukumaran, a 6-foot-3 senior forward. "It's such a tight race, with four teams so close together. So every game is crucial."

Saturday's rivalry matchup was another classic, a back-and-forth affair from the opening tip with neither team leading by more than six points. Punahou led 38-33 after Sean Gruebner's floater in the lane with 5:04 remaining, but 'Iolani crept back and eventually took the lead at 41-40 on a layup by Sukumaran with 1:21 left.

The Buffanblu snatched the lead back at 42-41 on Lowell Tong's baseline jumper 30 seconds later, but the Raiders tied it with 15.8 ticks remaining when Reid Saito sank the second of two free throws.

'Iolani's Keahi Hogan then knocked away a pass near Punahou's basket and the Raiders called timeout at halfcourt with 2 seconds left. A non-shooting foul with 1.1 ticks remaining set up another chance.

Sukumaran caught ball far up the left wing, then jumped, turned in midair and let the ball fly.

"I wasn't the first option, I was down on the low post, but no one was open so I flashed up (to the wing)," said Sukumaran, who said he wasn't really aware of how far he was from the basket when he caught the ball. "I just turned and shot it."

The Buffanblu had 6-6 forward Malik Johnson defending Sukumaran.

"You just gotta give (Sukumaran) credit," Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said. "He hit a great shot."

Saito, a 5-10 senior guard, led all scorers with 14 points, including three 3-pointers. Sukumaran and fellow post Gabriel Vega each added 10 points.

Sophomore guard Nick Velasquez led the Buffanblu with 12 points, including 10 in the third period.

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