The co-leaders in the ILH girls basketball race, the third-ranked Maryknoll Spartans, tip off at No. 7 ‘Iolani in a minute. I’m live-blogging and video only, so I’ll have a lot of pupule rumblings posted here.
FIRST QUARTER
Spartans line up defensively in what looks like a 1-3-1 zone. Raiders attack a gap and kick to Camy Aguinaldo at the top. Splash, 3-0.
Sophomore Kodee Viena scores at the other end for the Spartans. IOL 3, MS 2.
Rhianne Omori at the foul line. Misses the first, swishes the second. TIED 3-3. Omori is at the head of the 1-3-1, picking up in the back court. Pressure without the risk by Coach Chico Furtado. It’s working. They stole a pass on the previous possession and deflected another pass.
Raiders miss their last two shots. Spartans push the break and Omori drives hard to draw contact. She hits the first FT. Misses the second. MS 4-3.
Omori’s pressure rattles the Raiders, who throw the ball away just past midcourt. Spartans forcing IOL into turnovers, but commit two of their own in a row and Furtado is irate. Rushed passes. “Take you guys’ time out there,” he instructs. Raiders hit a FT, tied at 4.
An unforced turnover by MS, three in a row, and sneaky Taylor Wu races upcourt, gets fouled. Shooting two. Misses the first and Furtado shuffles in a bunch of subs. Wu hits the second, IOL 5-4, 3:07.
IOL press rattles MS into a bad pass downcourt, and that’s four turnovers in a row. Wu scores on a layup. IOL 7-4.
MS pressbreaker has open people, pass is hard, hot potato and is bobbled. Tipped out of bounds by MS. Five giveaways in a row.
Another Maryknoll turnover, pass to nobody at midcourt, but IOL gives it right back and the Spartans get a layup out of it. IOL 7-6.
Aguinaldo squares up and strokes a wing 3. IOL 10-6. Now a 5-second violation by MS. Furtado imploring his team to calm down. Kamalu Kamakawiwo‘ole with a wing 3 for MS. IOL 10-9, :50. She’s only a freshman.
Raiders play for the last shot of the quarter and miss. Spartans double up on a rebound, then throw it away. Kawai Kahalehoe steals a pass near the sideline, feeds Tori Maeda, who swishes a wing 3 at the buzzer.
Furtado is barking hard at his team. “You’ve got EIGHT TURNOVERS!”
SECOND QUARTER
Brooke Maeda with a corner 3 and IOL leads 16-9. Alexis Delovio answers with a straightaway 3 for MS. 16-12.
Omori rebounds, brings it to the left corner and swings it to Delovio, who is somehow wide open at the top. All net. 16-15.
Spartans miss, outlet to Aguinaldo, who stops at the elbow and feeds Sierra Buscher for a lefty layup. IOL 18-15.
Isabella Craven with an easy layup on the break for MS. 18-17.
Spartans running hard. I like this. It’s not going to be a 94-92 game, but the pace is nice enough. Kamakawiwo‘ole misses two FTs, but steals a pass near midcourt and drives for a nice, 5-foot jumper. MS leads 19-18.
Buscher gets free along the baseline for a drive and draws contact with 4:45 left in the second. She misses the first FT. Furtado on his team about defensive responsibilities. Second shot us good. 19-19.
Omori scores after a nice feed from a teammate on a 2-on-1. MS 21-19.
Fans wanted a travel on a Maryknoll 3-on-2 break, no call. Spartans get a follow shot on the play and lead 23-19. Time out, Raiders, 3:57.
Raiders with some goofy, unforced turnovers here in the middle of the second quarter. This 1-3-1 is messing with their minds?
Kamakawio‘ole travels (shuffles her feet, takes three short steps) on the right side of the lane, no call, and she hits a short jumper.
Another Spartan fastbreak and Delovio scores easily, 27-19.
Cravens, a 6-1 sophomore, swats a shot by Skylar Nakata, but Nakata ties her up for a jump ball.
Spartans beat the IOL press on the ensuing inbounds play and Ysabelle Halemano hits one of two FTs. MS 28-19, 1:53.
Raiders with crisp passing in and out against the zone and get an all-net 3 from the top by Emily Nomura. Their best possession of the quarter. 28-22.
Wild sequence in the final 45 seconds. Furtado calls for one shot. His team misses a wild layup, gets the offensive board, misses an open 3 and he can’t stand to watch. (I can’t blame him.) Aguinaldo misses a tough layup, and Maryknoll drives. Omori at the line, hits the first FT and the second with :05.1 left, 30-22.
Furtado specifically tells his team, no fouls “over the top”, but they foul anyway. Halemano fouls Tori Maeda at the sideline with :02.7 left. Maeda goes to the line for a 1-and-1, hits both FTs. The half ends with Maryknoll up 30-24.
They are impressive. Even with double-digit turnovers, the Spartans are running hard and playing fairly solid defense. I have to say, though, that I’ve never seen a Chico Furtado team, boys or girls, that disobeyed him as blatantly as this team does. It’s actually shocking. And he’s not pushing the issue either. They just walked to the lockerroom quietly.
If Brandy Richardson could see this…
Turnovers for ‘Iolani have hurt more, even though they’ve had less than their counterparts. All those unforced giveaways — Maryknoll is not pressing — cost them a lot of scoring opportunities.
THIRD QUARTER
Omori sinks a 3 to open the second half. Spartans 33-24.
Nakata called for a travel on a 3-on-2 break, and IOL fans are not happy. MS got away with three of those in the first half.
Cravens takes a bounce pass from Viena, then fires to the left wing where Omori cranks up and hits her second 3 in a row. Time out, IOL, 6:12. MS leads 36-24.
Brooke Maeda hustles after a bad pass, picks it up and dribbles off a Maryknoll player’s leg. Ball out of bounds, MS gets the ball.
Maryknoll travels again on a pass to a cutter, no call. This is going to be some heck of a video.
Chayse Milne beats the defense for a fastbreak layup. Buscher drives for an and-1 bucket. MS leads 39-27.
Aguinaldo wide open as IOL goes 2-up on offense. Omori can’t guard two players. Aguinaldo splashes from 22 feet out. 39-30, time out, MS, 4:00.
Cravens with a turnaround J in the lane, 41-30.
Tori Maeda with a wing J, 41-32.
Aguinaldo rebounds and goes coast to coast, gets fouled. Misses the first FT. Makes the second. MS 41-33, 2:14.
Aguinaldo sits and the IOL offense goes stagnant. No second shooter on top now and Wu’s drive and and runner is waxed by Cravens. IOL misses the next shot and Delovio follows a missed layup on the break. MS 43-33, :43.
Ball goes out of bounds on the next possession off IOL, but ruled IOL’s ball. Ouch. Tori Maeda drives for a tough layup.
Halemano follows a missed corner 3 with a putback at the buzzer. Maryknoll leads 45-35 after three quarters.
FOURTH QUARTER
Spartans commit a foul on offense (by a screener), but IOL throws the inbounds pass away. Again, no fullcourt press, just one defender (Omori) challenging the ball.
IOL with a lazy skip pass in halfcourt offense and Viena steals it for a layup. MS 47, IOL 35, 5:45. Time out, Maryknoll.
Raiders using Tori Maeda as a high post and she’s savvy enough to work those gaps, but there’s not enough spacing or screening high for the Raiders to get wide-open looks. It could happen though. When Maeda dribbles backward from the paint to the top, it’s a tough cover for Maryknoll.
Kahalehoe swats a shot and Aguinaldo draws a foul at the other end. Hits one of two FTs. But Maryknoll gets three offensive boards before Cravens scores on a putback. MS 49-36.
Lindsey Lee hits two FTs, MS 51-36, 3:32.
Brooke Maeda with the pullup elbow J, fouled. Hits the FT, three-point play. 51-39, 3:11. Time out, IOL.
IOL fullcourt press at full throttle, tipping a pass, ball up in the air. Buscher can catch it and shoot, but tries a touch pass to a shorter teammate and it’s a turnover. Buscher was 5 feet from the basket.
Milne’s one-handed pass sails out of bounds. Furtado pulls three players out. 2:07. He instructs his defense to not foul, and Tori Maeda drives left and is fouled as she scores. All guts this #25. Hits the FT and it’s 51-42 with 2:03 left.
Delovio to the FT line, 1-and-1, 1:59. Hits the first. Misses the second. 52-42.
Tori Maeda with the goofy-foot runner, Steve Nash style. WOW. 52-44.
Delovio back to the line, 1:45. Hits the first of a 1-and-1. And the second. 54-44.
IOL works inside-out with Tori Maeda in the post, feeding Brooke Maeda at the left wing for the 3. 54-47, 1:30. Ruh-rohh…
Maryknoll gets the inbounds pass in, foul. But they only had four players on the floor and officials call a technical foul. But Furtado insists that it’s not supposed to be a T and he’s right. It’s a tech if there are too many players on the court, not too few. Delovio to the line with 1:29 left. 1-and-1.
Delovio misses. IOL in halfcourt, but Aguinaldo fires a one-handed bullet through the legs of Tori Maeda in the post. Milne at the line. Misses the first. Makes the second, 55-47, 1:13.
Tori Maeda carving up the Spartans in the paint. She’s only 5-3 or so and looking like an all-state center. She scores on a lefty drive, 55-49.
Milne to the line, misses the first with :52.8 left. She misses the second.
Raiders miss a long 3, Aguinaldo rebounds, Tori Maeda’s drive and shot blocked by Cravens and/or Kamakawiwo‘ole. Wu misses a corner 3.
Delovio hits one of 2, :32, 56-49.
Wu misses a corner 3, Brooke Maeda’s drive shot blocked by Cravens. Kahalehoe’s step-back 3 misses. Cravens rebounds, but adds a little extra as she’s pushed a bit. Technical foul on Cravens with :08.3 left.
Cravens will shoot two first. Misses the first. Misses the second. Hmm… Brooke Maeda to the line to shoot the technical foul free throws. She’d need to hit both and IOL would still need two possessions. Even though they’ll get the ball back, it’s a long shot. Here goes.
She makes the first FT. 56-50. She misses the second. She knew it. “Ohh!” Now they need two 3-pointers in a span of 8.3 seconds.
Aguinaldo’s 22-footer from the right corner misses, ball out of bounds, IOL ball. Her left-corner 3 misses at the buzzer. Final: MS 56, IOL 50.
Maryknoll improves to 9-1 in the ILH. ‘Iolani drops to 4-6.
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