Kahuku girls stop Moanalua cold

Fia Tailele-Latu scored 19 points as No. 7 Kahuku pulled away for a 63-48 win over Moanalua on Wednesday night at Na Menehune’s gym.

Kahuku improved to 3-0 in OIA play despite a sluggish start against Na Menehune. Moanalua dropped to 3-1 in league play.

"This is what we wanted, to be 3-0 at this point," Kahuku coach Scott DeSilva said.

Hookela Schwenke added 13 points off the bench.

LaChae McColor led Moanalua with 21 points.

Tailele-Latu, who also had five assists and five rebounds, says there’s room for improvement.

"We played good, but we can do better offensively with more intensity," she said. "Defensively, we want to be more aggressive without fouling on rebounds."

The senior point guard poured in nine points in a pivotal second quarter. Most of the points came on explosive drives through the lane.

"We did a decent job in the first quarter containing Fia, but we couldn’t close those gaps. She does a good job attacking," Moanalua coach Dane Canida said.

Moanalua’s normally sharpshooting 3-point bombers went cold after hitting two treys in the opening quarter. They led 11-6 late in the first quarter, but 13 turnovers in the first half against Kahuku’s suffocating halfcourt man defense were costly. They also shot 1-for-12 from beyond the arc in the final three quarters.

The visiting Lady Raiders closed the first half with a 15-5 run, getting an NBA-range trey by Tailele-Latu to open a 32-20 lead at intermission.

"We need to be more consistent and run our plays," DeSilva said, noting that guard Talia Brown is out with an ankle injury suffered in a win over Kaimuki last week.

The shots were there for Moanalua.

"Tonight, it just wasn’t there. We attacked the middle, shots didn’t fall. We kicked it out, shots didn’t fall," Canida said. "We couldn’t run our sets and that’s credit to Kahuku."

Tailele-Latu’s defense was part of that Kahuku run. DeSilva sent her to deny McColor the ball. McColor was limited to just two field goal attempts in the third quarter, making both.

"Like we did against Princess (Lauvao of Kaimuki), I wanted to take the ball out of No. 1’s (McColor’s) hands. Every time she had the ball, she was creating and we were too slow reacting," DeSilva said.

Kahuku stretched the lead to 42-23 midway through the third quarter on a low-post shimmy move by Tailele-Latu. The visitors also outrebounded the home team 10-3 in the third.

Moanalua got no closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

Kahuku shot 51 percent from the field (26-for-51) and outrebounded Moanalua 29-26. Moanalua shot 27 percent (15-for-55) from the field, including 3-for-17 from deep. They were also 15-for-26 at the foul line (58 percent) to Kahuku’s 53 percent (10-for-19). Moanalua finished with 20 turnovers. Kahuku had 14 of its 22 giveaways in the second half as DeSilva emptied his bench.

OIA RED EAST

Kaimuki 65, Kalani 51

Princess Lauvao scored more than half of the Bulldogs’ points, finishing with 36 in a win over the Falcons.

Carly Kakuda led Kalani with 17 points.

Kalaheo 71, Farrington 47

Gabby Clark scored 21 points as the Mustangs downed the Governors. Kalaheo outscored Farrington 42-21 in the second half.

Kaiser 58, Kailua 39

Micaela Bitanga scored 16 points and Chantelle Arce added 15 points, including three 3-pointers, as the Cougars defeated the Surfriders.

Patria Yaimoana led Kailua with 18 points.

OIA RED WEST

Leilehua 68, Pearl City 12

Tiffany Reyher scored 17 points and Elyshia Bowden added 16 as the Mules routed the Chargers.

Aiea 57, Campbell 43

Pumehana Beltran and Mich’lae Higa combined for 47 points to lead Na Alii over the Sabers. Beltran scored 26 and Higa finished with 21. Marie Togiailua led Campbell with 18 points.

ILH DIVISION II

Hawaii Baptist 42, St. Francis 39

Jenee Brown scored 15 points as the Eagles edged the Saints. Lacey Satele scored 16 points to lead St. Francis.