Top-seeded and defending state champion 'Iolani jumped out of the starting blocks quickly in routing Radford, 64-24, Thursday night in a quarterfinal of the Hawaiian Airlines Division I boys' basketball tournament at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium.

The Raiders will meet Kahuku in one semifinal, 7 p.m. Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Trevyn Tulonghari led the Raiders with 14 points followed by Reid Saito's 10.

'Iolani jumped out 8-0 before the Rams finally got on the board with four minutes, 33 seconds left in the first quarter on a Nahshon George layup. He was fouled on the play and completed the three-point play to pull the Rams to 8-5.

But the Raiders went on a 26-0 run spanning first and second quarters in taking a 39-13 lead into the half. They led 26-3 after the first quarter and was ahead 34-3 before the Rams got on the board again with 3:29 left in the half on layup by Maika Ulufale.

The Raiders' starters were pulled less than midway through the third quarter, giving them adequate rest for the Red Raiders. That fact wasn't lost on 'Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto.

"Kahuku is so athletic," he said. "They have a lot of football guys. They have a lot of guys who can bang and go up and down, so I expect it to be a battle tomorrow. Having the guys rest was a big benefit for us."

The Rams could never get into any rhythm against the Raiders' pressure defense.

"We really tried to get after it on defense," Shimamoto said. "Now, we're trying to get more transition opportunities and try to turn some of our defense into our offense. We've been holding teams down, but we haven't been scoring. To do both was ideal."

The frustration of the Rams was evident early, when they were called for an intention foul, although 'Iolani missed both free throws.

"We were just out of sync," Rams coach Wayne Keys said. "We had to do some discipline. Somebody broke a team rule. We'll be all right. We'll battle back."

Keys declined comment on what team rule was broken.

Reserve Ulufale led the Rams with nine points. No other Ram scored more than three points. It was that kind of night.

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