The Raiders improved to 10-0 in the ILH with two regular season games remaining. Second-place Punahou stands at 6-3; third-place Kamehameha fell to 4-5.

"It feels good, almost surreal," said 'Iolani senior point guard Kylie Maeda, who finished with 11 points tonight. "Our first goal this season was to win the ILH, so now that we did it, I'm so proud of the team especially after all the adversity we went through."

Even with a two-game lead in the standings, the road to the title took a challenging turn last Friday when Alex Masaquel -- the Raiders' leading post scorer and rebounder -- was lost for the season with a broken leg against Punahou.

Masaquel, a 5-foot-10 junior forward, underwent surgery on Saturday and had been recovering at home but made a surprise appearance before tonight's game and cheered her teammates on from behind the bench.

"To see her smiling and happy after everything that happened to her, it gave us a burst of energy," Maeda said.

They needed that energy, as the youthful Warriors started the second period with a 6-0 run that put them ahead, 16-15, after Lilia Malo's short turnaround jumper.

But 'Iolani responded with an 11-0 spurt ignited by Saphyre Rezentes' reverse layup and capped by her short runner in the lane that made it 26-17 midway through the quarter. Kamehameha cut it to 29-22 on Amanda Wasko's two free throws 15 seconds before halftime, then closed to 38-32 on Krystal-Lei Mills' layup with two minutes remaining in the third period.

But Jade Botelho answered with a layup 30 seconds later to start a 7-0 run that made it 45-32 two minutes into the final quarter, and the Warriors could not get inside double-digits until Alohi Robins-Hardy's free throw cut the lead to 48-39 with 1:19 left.

Maeda, Botelho, Abrianna Johnson-Edwards and Klein Masutani then each sank a free throw in the final minute to seal the victory.

Rezentes finished with a game-high 15 points and Botelho added 12 points.

"We've been proud of the girls all year, they really pulled together and played as team," Raiders coach Eddie Maruyama said. "They're a close group. The girls spent all day Saturday at the hospital with Alex, and I was worried about how they would play that night because it was emotional. But they played well, and having Alex here tonight physically really gave us a lift spiritually.

Robins-Hardy led Kamehameha with 14 points.�