Rice, a national powerhouse boys basketball team from New York City's Harlem, ranked No. 10 in USA Today's latest Super 25, took an early lead against 'Iolani last night and never looked back in a 72-40 victory at the 24th Annual 'Iolani Prep Classic.

Rice will play Mason County (Maysville, Ky.) in tonight's feature game at 8. Mason County upset 15th-ranked Mt. Vernon, 73-69, yesterday.

'Iolani will play Mt. Vernon tonight at 6:30.

'Iolani led 5-2 after Burton Wong's 3-pointer with 5:34 remaining in the first period, but Rice responded with a 13-0 run capped by Durand Scott's steal and slam dunk with 2:33 left in the period.

'Iolani closed it to 15-9 after Bricen McCartney's 3-pointer with 1:05 remaining, but Rice started the second quarter with an 8-0 run and 'Iolani could get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

"We played them fairly tough in the beginning, but they made a run after our first set of substitutions and things became more frantic once we fell behind," 'Iolani coach Mark Mugiishi said. "We can't compete with them in a frantic game."

Rice's Chris Fouch, a 6-foot-1 guard who has verbally committed to play for Drexel University next season, finished with a game-high 19 points and 6-1 Connecticut-bound point guard Kemba Walker added 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Scott, a 6-4 guard, and Dorvell Carter, a 6-7 forward, also finished with 14 points each.

Rice was held to 22 points in the first half against Saint Louis in its Classic opener Tuesday, but led 36-23 at intermission last night.

"That's the way we expect to play," Rice coach Mo Hicks said. "We came out of the gates fast this time, and all of our weapons were fully loaded. That made a difference."

Rice, which outscored 'Iolani 17-4 in the third period, dominated the boards throughout the game and limited the Raiders to mostly one-shot possessions.

"We work on that a lot as a team," Hicks said. "Even our guards rebound a lot."

Hicks also credited his defense for disciplined play against 'Iolani's normally efficient offense.

"They do a great job running their offensive sets, and we told our guys they'll make 20 passes before they shoot," Hicks said. "So we just had to be patient. We see them a lot , because they play in a lot of national tournaments, so that helped us."

Mugiishi said Rice's athleticism and accurate shooting made for a tough challenge.

"Their speed and quickness really disrupted us," Mugiishi said. "And when they can shoot the ball well, that makes it even harder, because we're not going to stop their penetration."

McCartney led 'Iolani with 14 points.

'IOLANI 9 14 4 13 — 40

RICE 15 21 17 19 — 72

'IOLANI — Kela Marciel 4, Andrew Skalman 0, Nick Christman 0, Trevyn Tulonghari 0, Sheldon Lee 0, Berton Wong 8, Brandon Ball 0, Bricen McCartney 14, Pablo Warner 8, Kainoa Scheer 0, Taylor Mounts 4, Jarrett Arakawa 2. Totals 11 13-14 40.

RICE — Dorvell Carter 14, Chris Fouch 19, Starheim Ripley 0, James Cook 0, Jonathan Williams 0, Jeff Harris 5, Kemba Walker 15, Shamel Williams 0, Durand Scott 14, Charles Fenner 3, Kadeem Jack 0, Yuri Santos 0, James Stukes 0, Tyler Montplasir 2, Courtney Tabron 0. Totals 26 15-21 72. 3-point goals: 'Iolani 5 (McCartney 3, Wong 2). Rice 5 (Fouch 3, Walker, Fenner).

WESTCHESTER (CALIF.) 60, MONTROSE (MD.) 53

Oscar Bellfield scored a game-high 23 points, including five 3-pointers in the first half, to help Westchester (Los Angeles) upset Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.), ranked No. 6 in USA Today's latest Super 25 released Monday.

Bellfield's 15 first-half points helped the Comets, No. 6 in USA Today's West Region rankings, take a 24-17 lead at intermission.

The Mustangs cut it to 24-21 after Tristan Spurlock's reverse layup 72 seconds into the second half, but Westchester answered with an 8-2 run to lead 32-23 midway through the third period, and Jarred Dubois' 35-foot shot at the buzzer put the Comets up 42-30 going into the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Dwayne Polee's two-handed slam dunk gave Westchester a 46-32 lead with 6:43 remaining, and Montrose Christian could not get closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Dubois added 11 points for the Comets, who will face No. 14-ranked LeFlore (Mobile, Ala.) at 3:30 p.m. today.

Terrell Vinson scored 21 points to lead the Mustangs, who will play Arlington Country Day at 5 p.m. today.

MONTROSE CHRISTIAN 11 6 13 23 — 53

WESTCHESTER 10 14 18 18 — 60

MONTROSE — Dominic Milburn 4, Darius Smith 0, Micah Fraction 9, Tristan Spurlock 5, Kevon Moore 10, Brandon Rascoe 2, Terrell Vinson 21, Isaiah Amrwood 2, Keith Crockett 0, Temi Adebayo 0, Brian Okam 0. Totals 20 11-17 53.

WESTCHESTER — Tyree Smith 0, Dominique O'Connor 7, Jarred Dubios 11, Dwayne Polee 4, Jordin Mayes 4, DeShun McCoy 8, Oscar Bellfield 23, Kelvin Smith 0, Kareem Jamar 0, Mario Nored 0, Cordell Hadnot 3. Totals 20 12-15 60. 3-point goals: Montrose 2 (Vinson 2). Westchester 8 (Bellfield 6, Dubios 2).

MASON COUNTY 73, MOUNT VERNON 69

MT. VERNON 18 15 18 18 — 69

MASON COUNTY 14 18 16 25 — 73

MT. VERNON — Tyrone Mitchell 0, Vaughn Allen 0, Jordan Lessane 2, Jabarie Hinds 5, Ketema Brooks 2, Sean Harris 0, Sherrod Wright 20, Kadeem Dinham 0, Odayne Clarke 4, Andre Gaynor 0, Naseer Robinson 0, Mark Cole 0, Brandon White 0, Kevin Jones 36. Totals 25 14-20 69.

MASON COUNTY — Mandela Rice 0, Westin Stahl 0, Ryan Hamm 0, Darius Miller 23, Ethan King 6, Trevor Setty 13, Russ Middleton 19, Jackson Tolle 4, Keith Downing 4, Phil Barner 4. Totals 25 19-23 73. 3-point goals: Mt. Vernon 5 (Jones 4, Hinds).

Mason County 4 (Middleton 2, Miller, Setty).

LEFLORE 40, ACD 16

LEFLORE 7 6 13 14 — 40

ARTLINGTON COUNTY DAY 6 4 4 2 — 16

LEFLORE — Preston Hinton 0, James Buford 2, Denzel McDaniels 0, Darius Andrews 5, Jeremiah Hughley 0, Darryl Woods 3, Malcolm Rocker 0, Gerald Watkins 3, Kelly Vail 0, Wilma Simms 0, Demarcus Cousins 14, Nick Williams 9, Demario James 2, Hilton Grant 2, Damian Bilbo 0, Melvin Payne 0. Totals 15 6-6 40.

ARLINGTON COUNTY DAY — R.J. Wright 6, Denzell Hayden 0, Dietric Payne 0, Anthony Mosley 0, Delron Summey 0, Roderick Vails 0, Emari Bailey 4, Ryan Blue 0, Tyler Stanley 0, James Bell 6, David Kaunitz 0. Totals 8 0-1 16. 3-point goals: LeFlore 4 (Andrews, Woods, Watkins, Williams).

CONSOLATION BRACKET

LEILEHUA 48, ROOSEVELT 42

Leading scorers—Leilehua: Kolwin Dixon 13, Art Laurel 13. Roosevelt: Jason Nutter 10, Asten Koki 10.

JI LIN (CHINA) 61, SAINT LOUIS 57

Leading scorers—Ji Lin: Xiangyang Zhan 14, Zihao Liu 11, Jinchao Wang 10, Zhenyu Wang 10. Saint Louis: Cole Shidaki 18, Micah McClinton 14, Michael Tuiloma 13.

MOANALUA 56, BALDWIN 41

Leading scorers—Moanalua: Ryan Hua 10. Baldwin: Lincoln Seto 24, Kawika Grace 10.

MID-PACIFIC 48, KALAHEO 32

Leading scorers—Mid-Pacific: Sampson Won 18, Marcus Holyfield 10. Kalaheo: Cheynne Lishman 12.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456. Read his blog on prep sports at blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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