KAILUA, Hawaii — Two teams expected to contend in their respective leagues picked up situational experience in a championship setting Saturday night.
For Iolani, a 64-50 winner over Kailua in the Surfriders Holiday Classic, it was a chance to work in players who lacked experience closing out games and see them survive a big fourth-quarter rally from the host team. Guard Taniela Taliauli, who scored a game-high 16 points, helped break the Surfriders’ crunch-time press and scored or assisted on key fast-break baskets to help secure the eight-team tournament title.
For Kailua, which rallied from 22 points down in the third quarter to within five in the final minutes, it was a chance to break out of dependence on senior star Jonny Philbrick, who was saddled with foul trouble and cheered from the bench as freshman Dylan Kunz scored 12 of his 15 points in the final period.
Kailua had the ball on two possessions down 55-50 with under two minutes left, but Elijah Stietzel had a 3-pointer rim out and Kunz had a triple blocked.
Taliauli evaded desperation traps and found forward Mana Lau Kong multiple times down the stretch for big buckets as the Raiders scored the game's last nine points.
“If they’re going to (key) on somebody, whether it be me, Akila (Indalecio), Aiden (Wong), I’m going to find somebody, they’re going to find somebody,” said Taliauli, a junior who recently finished the 2022 football season as a Raiders receiver. “Every day’s a different day. But the bigs are always there, the clean-up crew.”
Lau Kong and Kailua forward Noa Donnelly had double-doubles.
Surfriders coach Wally Marciel gave his Iolani counterpart Ryan Hirata a hug and handed over the tournament’s perpetual trophy to cap three straight days of action.
“Invaluable experience for our guys, especially because a lot of them didn’t get to finish games last year. This was great for us,” Hirata said. “We appreciate Kailua (bringing) us out here, giving us an opportunity to play in their tournament. I’m just happy for these guys that worked really hard that they were able to win a preseason championship.”
Iolani’s game plan was to stifle Philbrick, the shifty guard who went off for 25 points in a semifinal win over another ILH team, Kamehameha, the night before. The Raiders rotated multiple defenders on him and checked him far from the hoop. As he forced frustration shots, the visitors kept working the ball around at the other end; their lead ballooned to 38-21 at halftime with nine players scoring in the period, including a one-handed slam by Luke Tobin.
Philbrick finished with 11.
“Iolani made some good adjustments with Jonny Philbrick, and our guys weren’t moving,” Marciel said. “Started just to watch. We gotta get into a flow of offense, and (not doing that) was the result when Iolani went up by 20 on us.
“In the second half, (we) made a couple of adjustments and our guys started to run an offense, started to move and get better open shots. That was the result, but at the end we didn’t hit free throws.”
Kunz scored all of his points on four 3-pointers, plus three free throws when he was fouled on a long ball. He hit his first near the end of the third quarter and knocked down two more at the start of the fourth. His last came on an extra pass from Philbrick.
“When he got hot, he got hot. I can appreciate that,” the one-time Raider sharpshooter Hirata said. “He shot it very, very well. And credit them, they battled back, and that’s why we tell these guys, you gotta value possessions, you gotta stack possessions.”
Marciel said Kunz’s performance would help the team for the upcoming OIA season.
It was the 10th year of Kailua’s signature tournament under Marciel. Campbell took third place with a 48-47 win over Kamehameha in which the Sabers' defense held firm on the Warriors' final possession.
Kailua and Iolani are slated to meet again in next weekend’s tournament hosted by Moanalua. The following week, the prestigious Iolani Prep Classic begins Dec. 16. It features powerhouses such as Montverde Academy of Florida and Mount Vernon High of Washington.
Some more shots from Saturday's championship:
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com