Fairfax outlasts Franklin for Iolani crown

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

The 19th annual Iolani Prep Basketball Classic ended last night, fittingly with another classic championship game.

Iolani's Ryan Hirata is blocked by Vincent's Nick Polk in the second period. The Raiders held off the Vikings of Milwaukee, 34-31. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

"This field was definitely better than last year's, and it ranks right up there with the best," said Fairfax coach Harvey Kitani, who has brought seven of his Lions teams to the tournament. "We set winning this as one of our goals, and I'm happy we were able to do it."

Fairfax, ranked No. 17 in USA Today's Super 25, overcame deficits of 13-3 in the first period and 40-30 in the third. Franklin's stellar guard, Aaron Brooks, gave the Quakers a 47-44 lead with 1:30 remaining, but the Lions' Joshua Shipp answered with a putback to close it to 47-46 with 1:10 left.

Fairfax's own superb point guard, Kevin Brooks, then drained a 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining to put the Lions up 49-47. Then Brooks made a spectacular scooping layup between two defenders with 13 seconds left to tie it at 49.

The Lions missed a layup at the end of regulation.

Baskets by Jamal Boykin and Alex Bausley gave Fairfax a 55-51 lead midway through the overtime period, and the Lions never trailed again.

Boykin, a 6-foot-7 sophomore, scored a game-high 20 points to lead Fairfax. Kevin Bell, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, added 16 points, 14 of them after halftime.

Brooks, a Junior National Team member who has signed with Oregon, scored 18 points, made four steals, grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists. He was named Most Outstanding Player.

• Iolani 34, Vincent (Milwaukee) 31: Derrick Low scored 13 points to lead the defending state champion Raiders, who improved to 10-1 on the season.

Iolani will continue to test itself against Mainland competition, leaving on Christmas Day for the Stop and Shop Holiday Festival tournament in Boston from Dec. 27-29. Once there, the Raiders are expected to face defending state champions from Massachusetts and Louisiana.

Vincent went 23-1 last season, winning the city championship and finishing No. 14 in USA Today's final rankings.

"The difference in the game was (the Raiders) had a little more patience and poise than we did," Vincent coach Tom Diener said.

The game was tight going into the fourth period, with the Raiders holding onto a 25-24 advantage. Iolani finally grabbed control with three straight baskets to lead 31-24, but Zach Tollefson's layup with 5:35 remaining proved to be the Raiders' final field goal.

Vincent's Quintin Barfield scored on a layup with 1:10 left to close it to 33-29, and Marcus Landry's dunk with 35 seconds remaining made it 33-31. Todd Blankenship sank a free throw to put Iolani ahead 34-31 with 24 seconds left, and the Raiders shut down the Vikings on their final two possessions.

"They're a good team, they're one of the better teams we'll face all year," Diener said.

Other games:

• MONTROSE CHRISTIAN (MD.) 62, MIAMI CHRISTIAN 48: Linas Kleiza scored 34 points as the Mustangs beat the Victors for third place.

Sammy Hernandez led Miami Christian with 14 points.

• ARCHBISHOP CARROLL (WASHINGTON, D.C.) 53, LINCOLN (ORE.) 51: Darian Townes scored 27 points and Anthony Ndubuisi added nine as the Lions edged the Cardinals for seventh place.

Archbishop Carroll made 19-of-36 free throws, while Lincoln made just 6-of-9.

Consolation

• MONTEPASCHI (ITALY) 61, KAMEHAMEHA 37: Giovanni Fattori scored 12 points, and Andrea Dolfi and Luca Lechthaler added 11 apiece as Montespaschi beat the Warriors for the consolation championship.

• LEILEHUA 50, PEARL CITY 37: Zacarius Rivera scored 14 points as the Mules beat the Chargers.

• ST. LOUIS 56, KAIMUKI 25: Jason Rivers scored 18 points and Jonah Lakatani added 10 as the Crusaders beat the Bulldogs.

• RADFORD 58, BALDWIN 40: Joshua Auelua and Martin Lara each scored 10 points as the Rams beat the Bears.