‘Iolani girls pull away from Maryknoll in fourth quarter

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Justice Kekauoha scored eight points during an 11-0 run to begin the fourth quarter as No. 3 ‘Iolani outlasted No. 4 Maryknoll 42-32 on Saturday morning at Maryknoll Community Center.

The Raiders improved to 3-0 in ILH play (9-6 overall ) just two days after returning from a mainland trip.

“We learned a lot from traveling. We learned to box out. We still have to work on it. We learned a lot of ball movement up there, ” Kekauoha said.

Leading 28-26, ‘Iolani opened the fourth quarter with 11 unanswered points, sparked by Kekauoha and freshman center Charlotte Galloway. Kekauoha drove for a layup, Galloway scored on another layup, and Kekauoha splashed two rainbow 3s from the top to give the Raiders a 39-26 lead with 3 :19 remaining.

“Our momentum changed. I wanted to help out Hailey (Fernandez ). It was kind of hard out there, ” Kekauoha said.

Kekauoha finished with 15 points and seven rebounds while guarding Maryknoll scoring machine Pua ‘ena Herrington, along with Chelsea Lee. Fernandez added eight points and Galloway tallied seven points and nine rebounds.

Herrington finished with a game-high 21 points on 7-for-23 shooting from the field. ‘Iolani’s defense sagged around her any time she had the ball. Unlike previous games, when she posted up and got to the free-throw line regularly, Herrington stayed on the perimeter most of the time. The senior guard managed to shoot 5-for-7 from the foul line and also hustled for a game-high 11 rebounds.

“It gets a little frustrating when she posts up and gets hit, and not getting calls, ” Maryknoll coach Chico Furtado said. “But we couldn’t hit shots and make plays. Justice was on the bench and we were down two at halftime. Now, we’ve got to use the next few games to build our bench a little bit. We played good enough defense, but we’re not scoring.”

Maryknoll dropped to 2-4 in league play (11-6 overall ).

No other Spartan scored more than five points on a day when they struggled to make open layups. Zoe Silva corralled nine rebounds but did not score. Haikela Hiraishi played through an illness and finished with five points, shooting 1-for-12.

Maryknoll shot 4-for-23 on 3s on their home court.

Kekauoha sat the entire second quarter with foul trouble while the Raiders mustered a two-point halftime lead. She took command in the third quarter, but the lead remained two points.

“My mindset was as long as we’re still in the game, especially with a lead, I wasn’t going to risk her getting her third (foul ), ” ‘Iolani coach Dean Young said. “I’m proud of how we battled. Maryknoll is a good team. Pua is dangerous. We switched a lot, so they were all ready for the assignment. We can’t guard her with one girl. We’ve got to double, show double, bring help.”

‘Iolani returned from a third-place finish at the SoCal Holiday Classic in San Diego on Wednesday and seemed to be a bit out of sync with five first-quarter turnovers. However, Maryknoll did not travel during the holidays and had four turnovers in the opening quarter. In the end, the busy holidays were a plus.

“Magical, exhausting, competitive and bonding, ” Fernandez said.

The Raiders have one game next week, a Tuesday matchup against Punahou. Maryknoll visits No. 1 Kamehameha on Tuesday.

No. 1 Kamehameha 45, No. 7 Punahou 26 Nihoa Dunn scored 11 points and Rylee Cabuyadao-Caswell added 10 as the Warriors (16-4, 4-0 ) resumed ILH play with a win. Andrea Porreca added eight points.

Ahnastaziah Wright paced the Buffanblu (6-7, 0-5 ) with 10 points.

The Warriors finished second in the Platinum Division of the West Coast Jamboree on Tuesday, losing to Clovis (Calif.) in the final, 56-53.

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