Dalton Hilliard dribbled three-fourths the length of the court and scored a layup as time expired last night to lift Punahou to a 53-52 victory over 'Iolani in the championship game of the Ninth Annual James Alegre Invitational.

'Iolani had taken a 52-51 lead with 23 seconds remaining on a layup by freshman Trevyn Tulonghari and gained possession soon after when a Buffanblu pass went out of bounds.

The Raiders turned it back over with 15 seconds left, but Punahou missed an 8-foot jumper and 'Iolani grabbed the rebound and was fouled.

The Raiders missed both free throws of a two-shot bonus, however, and the Buffanblu rebounded and called timeout with 5.5 seconds remaining. After the teams returned to the floor, Punahou called another timeout before the ball was inbounded.

"Coach (Dan Hale) saw that they would come out in a man (defense), so he told me to get down the floor and look for Kam (Steinhoff)," said Hilliard, a 5-foot-11 junior guard. "I beat my man and I had a lane, so I decided to take it all the way."

Hilliard raced past two defenders in the backcourt and raced in unobstructed until slicing past a final defender near the basket to lay it in from the left side.

"That was our 'defensive specialist' team out there, but nobody helped," 'Iolani coach Mark Mugiishi said.

Hale said he wanted the ball in Hilliard's hands.

"He's our fastest guy, and he got down the court in five seconds," Hale said. "I wanted him to either dish it to Kameron or take it coast-to-coast."

Early on, it looked like the Buffanblu would win running away.

They jumped out to an 8-0 start in the first four minutes and had a 13-2 lead after one period. Steinhoff then opened the second quarter with two free throws to make it 15-2.

But Steinhoff, a 6-5 senior forward, was whistled for his third foul and was sent to the bench with 6:41 left in the half.

"That hurt us, because he's our leader," Hale said. " 'Iolani made a good run after that, but it was good for us, too, because our guys had to figure out how to play without him."

The Raiders closed it to 22-15 before Kimo Makaula's layup gave Punahou a 24-15 lead at the half. 'Iolani got to 38-36 by the end of the third period, and tied it at 40-40 on Pablo Warner's 12-foot jumper in the lane with 7:01 remaining.

The teams then traded leads several times, with Steinhoff putting Punahou up 51-50 with 1:31 left.

Both teams were not at full strength or in midseason form. 'Iolani has at least four football players who just joined the team Monday after playing in the Division II football state championship game last weekend.

One of them, senior returnee Lionel Fujioka, is injured and watched last night's game in street clothes. The Buffanblu also were nursing several injuries.

"We've got some guys nicked up and playing hurt," Hilliard said. "But by the time the (regular) season starts, we should be fine."

Steinhoff finished with a game-high 17 points. Taylor Mounts led the Raiders with 14, and Warner and Tulonghari each added 10.

Read Wes Nakama's blog on prep sports at http://blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.