By Wes Nakama

Even with a regular season title and state tournament berth already in its pocket, Kamehameha stayed in championship form Tuesday night and denied ‘Iolani a Senior Night victory, 52-44, in ILH girls basketball action.

A supportive crowd of about 700 and statewide TV audience watched Nihoa Dunn score a game-high 20 points and grab 14 rebounds and Rylee Paranada add 10 points as the Warriors finished the regular season at 9-0. Hailey Fernandez scored a team-high 17 points and Justice Kekauoha added 14 points to lead the Raiders, who fell to 5-4.

Both teams will begin play in the ILH Tournament on Saturday, with Maryknoll visiting ‘Iolani at 11 a.m. and Kamehameha playing host to Punahou at 3:30 p.m.

The Warriors and Raiders played Tuesday’s game with playoff-type intensity, from tipoff to just seconds before the final horn.

Kamehameha jumped out to a 9-4 lead but ‘Iolani closed it to 11-9 before Rylee Cabuyadao-Caswell’s 3-pointer gave the Warriors a 16-11 lead going into the second period. The Warriors then went up, 19-12, on Averie Owan’s 3-pointer from the left corner, but Rayah Soriano’s free throws ignited a 7-0 run capped by Fernandez’s three-point play to tie it at 19-19 with 5:35 remaining in the half.

Kamehameha later took a 25-20 lead after a jumper by Paranada with 3:44 left, but ‘Iolani again tied it up at 27-27 going into halftime after Kekauoha’s three-point play 44 seconds before the break.

“(The Raiders) are so good, they have so many offensive weapons, they’re a really good defensive team,” Warriors coach Pua Straight said. “One of our strengths is offensive rebounding, (but) a lot of times they do a really good job of not allowing us to get those second-chance opportunities. They’re a really, really tough team, and it’s hard to keep playing the same team over and over again.”

After Fernandez drained a 3-pointer to close it to 36-35 with 50 seconds remaining in the third period, Kamehameha finally got separation with a 12-2 run starting with Dunn’s layup to close out the quarter and capped by Paranada’s 3-pointer to make it 48-37 with 4:22 left in the game.

‘Iolani closed it to 48-42 after Fernandez’s three-point play with 2:07 on the clock, but that was as close as the Raiders would get as the Warriors held firm the rest of the way.

“I absolutely loved the effort we gave tonight, especially on the defensive end, battling,” ‘Iolani coach Dean Young said. “They’re much more physical than us, so we gotta work extra hard. To close a double-digit lead against them is hard, because it takes so much effort to battle them physically.”

Dunn, a junior post, said despite the regular season title and state tournament berth already secured, it was important to maintain the Warriors’ standard of excellence. 

“I feel like that is part of Kamehameha basketball, always playing (hard) matter what the game is,” Dunn said. “We work so hard in practice, so to see all the girls play on the court (tonight), was really important to all of us.”