The hard work 'Iolani's Chanel Hirata has put in after practice is paying off.

Hirata, a junior guard, made three 3-pointers in the first half as 'Iolani beat Radford, 50-39, last night in the quarterfinals of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Girls Basketball Division I State Championships at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"I've been practicing every day after practice at least half an hour," Hirata said. "All of my shots now are for the team so every time I shoot it I'm thinking about them."

Hirata and Alana Matayoshi each finished with 10 points for the Raiders.

'Iolani, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion, plays Kalani-Konawaena in the semifinals at 6 tonight.

Third-seeded 'Iolani (12-2) came out on fire from 3-point range, hitting five of their first seven attempts.

"What the 3-pointers did was open up the court more; made them extend their defense," 'Iolani coach Glenn Takara said. "It opened up things for Jamie (Smith) in the middle, for our cuts and screens and all that."

Hirata capped a game-opening 8-0 run with a 3-pointer from the left baseline. She nailed another late in the first period and her final 3-pointer put the Raiders up 25-9 with 4:07 left before halftime.

Tami Konishi and Sarah Turgeon also hit 3-pointers in the first half.

"I was hoping since they hadn't played here in a while and they had a long layoff, they would miss those shots, but they proved us wrong," Radford coach David Lane said.

The Raiders overcame a superb effort by Radford freshman center Ta Nitra Byrd, who finished with 22 points and 20 rebounds.

Byrd was matched up against Smith, a junior center and second team Advertiser All-State selection last season. Both are 6 feet.

"She worked hard out there," Lane said of Byrd. "They were kind of keying on her. It was she and Jamie. She proved she belonged out there."

Smith finished with eight points and nine rebounds despite early foul trouble.

'Iolani's largest lead was 31-11 after a field goal by Kylie Ahlo with 33 seconds left before halftime.

Radford (14-3), the O'ahu Interscholastic Association runner-up, got within 33-25 on a field goal by Marlena Malepeai with 2:28 left in the third period.

But the Raiders responded by scoring the final seven points of the period to take a 40-25 lead. Dayna Jandoc had the first four points and Matayoshi scored the final three.

'Iolani scored the first five points of the fourth — all on free throws — to go back up by 20.

Radford got as close as 10 in the final period.

"I'm very proud of our team. They didn't give up," Lane said. "Everybody that got in played really, really hard."

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.