Pacheco lifts Waiakea past Roosevelt in 3 OTs

Ciera Pacheco scored 15 points, including four in the third and final overtime, as Waiakea outlasted Roosevelt 56-55 in the Division I opening round of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships.

“Oh my gosh! It was so intense,” Pacheco said.

“It was crazy,” Waiakea coach Grant Kauhi said.

Pacheco’s free throws with 18 seconds left gave Waiakea what appeared to be a safe lead at 56-52 in the final overtime. However, Roosevelt’s Kira Arruda swished a 39-foot bomb from near halfcourt to cut the lead to one point, and coach Hinano Higa called timeout immediately with 5 seconds remaining.

Roosevelt’s man defense then smothered Waiakea on the inbounds pass to force a 5-second violation. The Rough Riders worked the ball inside to Tatiana Mariano, but she was tied up by at least two Waiakea defenders for a jump ball as the buzzer sounded, ending the game.

“We wanted to go inside and get a foul. We had the bonus,” Higa said. “Waiakea’s a tough team. Their bigs can handle the ball.”

A frazzled crowd of about 500 at Moanalua saw the Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up advance to the quarterfinals. Waiakea (22-5) will face No. 3 seed Lahainaluna in a 5 p.m. game today at Moanalua.

Pacheco, a senior guard, also had seven rebounds and six steals, and guard Alyssa Ferreira had 13 points and five steals. Junior center Daven Namohala-Roloos had a team-high 16 points.

Pacheco was a steadying force, hitting four free throws in the first overtime.

“She’s my clutch free-throw shooter,” Kauhi said.

“We’ve been getting into condition all season and it pays off,” Pacheco said. “I tried to block out the music and the crowd so I could concentrate.”

Chelsea Wong led Roosevelt (14-9) with 16 points and added seven rebounds. Arruda finished with 13 points, nine boards and three steals.

Despite being outrebounded 34-25, Waiakea forced Roosevelt into 26 turnovers without using its full-court press. The Warriors junked the press after the Rough Riders broke it easily early on.

Waiakea pounded the ball inside to Namohala-Roloos for eight points in the first half and had control, but Roosevelt drilled four treys in the second quarter to take a 26-25 lead into the locker room.

Waiakea switched out of a 2-3 zone to a man defense to counter the 3-point attack, and Namohala-Roloos managed to stay out of foul trouble. The lead changed hands eight times in the second half.

Waiakea had a 47-43 lead in the first overtime, but Wong scored on a layup and Arruda drove for a game-tying layup with 6 seconds left. Neither team scored in the second overtime.

Nayla Long’s putback at the buzzer gave the Trojans an opening-round win over the Bulldogs. The Trojans missed two shots in the final 6 seconds before the ball bounced to Long, who put her shot up just before time expired.

“It ricocheted off Summer (Bolibol) and came to me,” said Long, who had 21 points. “I knew I had to get it out of my hands quick.”

Kapili Amamalin added 15 points, mostly in transition, to help the Trojans (15-8) overcome Kaimuki (21-7), which got 28 points from Ashley Savusa.

The big production of Long and Amamalin was key after Mililani guard Taylor Babbitt went down with a knee injury in the first half.