The opening day of the ‘Iolani Classic is underway.
Tuesday’s scores
Mount Vernon (N.Y.) 75, Kaiser 37
White Station (Tenn.) 61, Fuxin (China) 45
West Linn (Ore.) 84, ‘Iolani II 26
‘Iolani 60, Radford 39
Wednesday’s games
Oroku (Okinawa) vs. Roman Catholic (Penn.), 3:30
Kailua vs. St. Rita (Ill.), 5
Moanalua vs. Hamilton (Wisc.), 6:30
Kamehameha vs. Westchester (Calif.), 8
Thursday’s games
• ‘Iolani Classic
Kaiser vs. Fuxin, 9 am
‘Iolani II vs. Radford, 11 am
Remaining schedule TBA
‘Iolani 21, Radford 8, end first quarter
The host Raiders rode hot shooting to a 15-0 lead.
‘Iolani 34, Radford 13, end second quarter
Smothering Raiders press isn’t always producing turnovers, but it sets the tempo and keeps the pressure on Radford’s guards. Rams aren’t playing poorly. They aren’t getting any second-chance shots, though, and ‘Iolani keeps getting quality looks on the offensive end.
‘Iolani 48, Radford 29, end third quarter
Tobias Powell heating up for the Rams, but they haven’t stopped the Raiders enough times defensively. One quarter left for the Rams.
‘Iolani 60, Radford 39, final
Decisive win for the Raiders, who led big early and emptied the bench. Fans got a good look at a lot of their younger players — including sophomores Zach Gelacio, Shane Lay and Robert Mann.
Pikai Winchester led a balanced offense with 14 points. Shane Lay added 11.
Powell led Radford with 15 points.
West Linn (Ore.) 26, ‘Iolani II 7, end first quarter
The Lions are running the break, hitting threes, using a fullcourt press to force turnovers. They’re dominating.
West Linn 61, ‘Iolani II 17, end third quarter
Impressive performance by the Lions. They haven’t lost focus even in a lopsided game.
West Linn 84, ‘Iolani II 26, final
Anthony Mathis scored 15 points and Cody Coppedge added 14 in the Spartans’ runaway victory. Payton Pritchard chipped in 12 points and Ty Cleland added 10 for West Linn, which knocked down nine treys.
Preston Kamada led the D-II Raiders with seven points.
Fuxin (China) 31, White Station (Tenn.) 28, halftime
In a surprising turn, the New Star — from Liaoning, China — are outshooting the tourney favorites. Fuxin is making its first appearance in the Classic, using their shooting touch to outplay Spartans.
White Station entered the tourney ranked No. 5 nationally by MaxPreps, but has been unwilling to box out under the glass against an equally tall team. Fuxin hasn’t done much boxing out either, but will give a hard foul occasionally on White Station drives.
Fuxin has an enrollment of 480 and is coachced by Li Ming, a 30-year veteran. Fuxin finished third in the nation last season.
White Station? I haven’t seen a touted team play this soft in the Classic. EVER. We’ll see what happens from here.
White Station 52, Fuxin 38, end third quarter
Spartans outscored Fuxin 24-6 in the third. This is what happens when an elite team decides to lock down defensively. Using a fullcourt press and a tighter man defense, the Spartans have seized control of the game. Fuxin looked formidable in the first half, but all of their casual tendencies — unforced turnovers, allowing easy layups one after the other, bad entry passes — caught up with them.
The New Star weren’t even hustling back on defense when White Station ran the break. I just want a close game. Spoiled like that.
White Station 61, Fuxin 45, final
The Spartans woke up after a sleepy first half. Fuxin is the best shooting team from China that I’ve seen in the tourney. But like Tsinghua before them, they still aren’t used to play physical basketball in the paint or on the perimeter.
Curtis Phillips scored 22 points for the Spartans, who trailed for most of the first half, then locked down defensively in the third quarter. Fuxin, the third-place team in China last season, led 31-28 at the break, but White Station — ranked No. 5 nationally by MaxPreps — went on a 24-6 run to seize control.
Nych Smith, LaDarius Coleman and Davell Roby had 10 points each for the Spartans. Jiawei Feng led Fuxin with 20 points.
Mount Vernon (N.Y.) 22, Kaiser 3, end first quarter
The Cougars have height and some depth, but struggled to get open looks against the Knights’ tough fullcourt man defense. Judah Alexander, Mount Vernon’s 6-5 glue man, had four assists and three steals in the first. Brandon Martin, a 6-2 senior scored four points and Devonte Banner had six.
Knights keep hitting the middle of Kaiser’s 2-3 zone with passes. Mt. Vernon has yet to hit a 3. They emptied their bench during the opening quarter.
Mount Vernon 40, Kaiser 11, halftime
The Knights, under longtime coach Bob Cimmino, show patience against Kaiser’s zone, and they love to trap out of their fullcourt man defense. Kaiser has 22 turnovers.
Martin has 10 points at the break, while Banner has 12 points and three steals. Alexander is the most intriguing player, though. He now has five assists, three boards, three steals and a block. And five points.
Mount Vernon 58, Kaiser 20, end third quarter
Kaiser’s Chance Kallaugher playing more aggressively now. he took eight shots in the third, hit a 3. He’s still young, just a sophomore, at 6-4, maybe 6-5. Kaiser has struggled, but they’re getting better as the game progresses. They’ve got potential.
Kelsey Lewis II is a quick, solid lefty point guard, just a junior. Tarius Hill is 6-1, has 3-point range and could help on the boards in the OIA season.
Mount Vernon 75, Kaiser 37, final
Knights played their bench for most of the second half. Solid win, good patience. Impressive stuff for a team playing just its third game.
Banner led Mount Vernon with 19 points. Martin finished with 12.
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