Make it five in a row for state champion ‘Iolani Raiders

HONOLULU — The queens stay queen.

‘Iolani maintained its spot atop the Hawai’i girls basketball mountain with a 39-38 overtime victory over Kamehameha in the Heide & Cook state championship at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena Friday night.

The Raiders (23-2) bested Kamehameha for the sixth time this year to earn their fifth straight state title, their ninth overall.

Junior guard Mia Frye, who was selected as the tournament’s most outstanding player, scored 13 points with two rebounds, two assists and two steals. She also knocked down a 3-pointer, that was originally ruled as a 2-point shot, to start the overtime period.

Keiki McGee followed with eight points and three assists and senior center Mele Sake had seven points and nine rebounds with two blocks to power ‘Iolani down low.

Nihoa Dunn led the Warriors (17-8) in the loss with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Raiders got off to an 8-0 lead to start the opening quarter and held Kamehameha scoreless until a Rylee Paranada jumper at the 1:10 mark of the frame.

‘Iolani would grow its lead to as many as 15 points in the first half, 21 to 6, before the Warriors started to claw their way back into the contest.

Kamehameha took its first lead of the game, 29-28, on Dunn’s layup with 4:16 left in regulation before a pair of 3-pointers by McGee and Sake pushed the lead back to 34-29 for the Raiders.

A corner triple with one minute left in the fourth quarter by Paranada ultimately tied the game at 36 before a couple of turnovers between both squads saw the game go into overtime.