The 'Iolani boys water polo team combined patience on offense and aggression on defense to beat Punahou, 8-6, last night in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu tournament final.

Stephen Lim and Victor Wong scored three goals apiece for 'Iolani, which outscored Punahou 5-1 in the second half.

'Iolani and Punahou, the ILH regular-season champion, will meet again Wednesday night at Kamehameha for the overall league title.

If the Buffanblu had won, they would have been the overall champion.

"We had to come out with a lot of urgency," said Lim, a senior driver/utility player. "The past few weeks our backs have been against the wall because we lost the regular season."

Michael Lim scored at 4:34 of the third quarter to bring 'Iolani within 5-4. Wong's goal with 3:52 left in the quarter tied it, and he gave 'Iolani its first lead when he scored from the left side with 1:35 remaining.

"It was kind of shared and I think that helped us because they couldn't really key on one guy who was having a good game," 'Iolani coach Randy Bart said.

Victor Lim's goal midway through the fourth put 'Iolani (6-2) ahead 7-5. Bret Johnson's goal with 2:14 remaining capped the scoring.

"We just had to be patient and stay with our game plan," Victor Lim said. "A couple times in the first half we moved away from our game plan."

Bart said his team used a new offense designed to isolate Punahou defenders.

"The last game (Oct. 27) they had so many big arms in front of the goal so we had to figure out an offense to get clear shot lanes to the goal," he said. "We brought up a new offense; it's new for us but it's been around for a long time."

The Raiders forced numerous turnovers in the second half, especially when Punahou (5-2) passed the ball to a player in front of the goal.

"The defense was the same, but we were just attacking the ball a little more, not sitting and watching," Bart said. "We were going to the ball."

The only goal for Punahou in the second half came on a long shot by Curtiss Baldwin, which made it 7-6 with 3:48 remaining in the match.

"We didn't adjust very well," Punahou coach Ken Smith said. " 'Iolani's defense really picked up in the third quarter particularly, and we kept doing some of the same things."

Jack Roney and Baldwin scored two goals apiece for Punahou, which also lost to 'Iolani in the season opener, 10-8.

Bart said Punahou had success offensively in the first half by running a "pick play."

He added his team "stayed off them and let them run it" and then collapsed to the ball.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.