In a battle of thoroughbreds, Iolani had the most horses at the end and defeated Lahainaluna 68-56 in the semifinals of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I girls' basketball tournament at the Blaisdell Center.

The ILH champion and #2 seed Raiders will face BIIF champion and #1 seed Konawaena in the finals. Both teams have won 4 state titles. Konawaena is the defending champion. Iolani last won in 1996.

With both teams pressing the length of the floor and substituting freely, the game was played at a frenetic pace. There were five ties in the first half, - the last at 29 - before Saphyre Rezentes put Iolani ahead for good making a pair of free throws with 39 seconds left before intermission. Lahainaluna led only once, 26-25 early in the second quarter.

The MIL champion and #3 seed Lunas hung tough and trailed 47-43 after three quarters.

The fourth quarter saw big shifts in momentum.  At the start, Iolani scored 8 straight points, holding  Lahainaluna scoreless for over two minutes to take the game's biggest lead -12 points, 55-43. The Lunas responded with an 11-2 run over the next three minutes to cut the lead to three, 57-54.  But in the final 2:42, three Lahainluna players fouled out and Iolani closed with an 11-2 run of their own for the final margin.

"It was like a race track, up and down" said Iolani coach Eddie Maruyama. "(Assistant coaches) Rodney Veary and Glenn Young brought in a new system this year - chaos, organized chaos we hope."

Iolani's dependable guards, Rezentes and Kylie Maeda were very well organized and effective in breaking the Lahinaluna press. Rezentes had a game-high 16 and Maeda added 15. Iolani outrebounded the Lunas 29-13, getting strong inside games from Taimane Passi (10 points), Adrianna Johnson-Edwards (10 points) and Alyssa Liilii (8 points). Iolani shot well, making 25 of 51 (49%) from the field, with three 3-pointers and 15 of 20(75%) free throws.

Said Lahainaluna coach Todd Rickard, "I thought we played good enough to win.  But we got into foul trouble. They (the officials) called it very tightly. Iolani is a great team. Somebody had to win and somebody had to lose."

Lahainaluna shot 21 of 47 (45%) from the field, with six 3-pointers and 8 of 16 (50%) free throws. Princess Lauvao was high for the losers with 15 points. Ana Lauese and Glelynn Casil had 10 apiece.

Lahainaluna will meet Kahuku to determine 3rd place.

---