If the Iolani School boys basketball team could have combined Tuesday's second half with yesterday's first half in both games, it might have had two victories over highly regarded East Coast opponents.

As it is, the four-time defending state champion Raiders lost twice and settled for eighth place in the 22nd Annual Iolani Prep Classic after a 51-33 defeat to Palm Beach Lakes (West Palm Beach, Fla.). It is Iolani's lowest finish since 1999.

"We still have trouble putting two halves together," Raiders coach Mark Mugiishi said. "Like (assistant) Dean Shimamoto was telling the boys, we've shown we can do everything well; we just don't do it all the time."

Tuesday night, Iolani outscored USA Today's No. 1-ranked team, Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.), 24-23 in the final 16 minutes. But that came after a 30-7 halftime deficit.

Yesterday, the Raiders led Palm Beach Lakes 22-21 at the half, but were held without a field goal in the third period and trailed 34-24 entering the final quarter. The Rams opened the lead to 45-31 with 4:14 remaining and later finished the game with a 6-0 run.

"They switched to a zone in the second half and we got all confused," Mugiishi said. "It's funny, because when they played us man in the first half we actually were more patient and were able to find the open shots. But when they switched to a zone we got out of our rhythm and started to struggle. We got more frantic."

Palm Beach Lakes coach Lorenzo Hands said the difference in halves had as much to do with intensity as strategy.

"Defense starts with a mindset," Hands said. "I tried to challenge our guys at halftime. (Iolani) did a good job of not allowing us to run our offense in the first half, so I said, 'Why can't we not allow them to run their offense, too?' Their kids really set good screens to get their shooters open, but we came out with a different mindset in the second half and did a better job of shutting down the passing lanes."

Corey Claitt led the Rams with a game-high 19 points, and Steve Toyloy added 17. Kawika Shoji led the Raiders with 14 points, including 10 in the first half.

Palm Beach Lakes, which went 26-4 last season and finished second in Florida's 6A (biggest schools) state tournament, improved to 8-4. Iolani fell to 5-4.

The Raiders leave Sunday for Portland, Ore., to play in another major tournament — the Les Schwab Invitational. The field includes 2004 Iolani Prep Classic champion Rice (N.Y.) and Los Angeles power Westchester.

Iolani's first game will be against Hillsborough, a 2005 Oregon state semifinalist.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.