Kaiser girls move into second round

Roselynn Shimaoka scored 16 points and Skylar Kimura drilled the go-ahead 3-pointer as Kaiser rallied to pull out a 44-41 win over Kamehameha-Maui on Tuesday in opening-round play of the OC 16/HHSAA Girls Basketball Division I State Championships.

Kaiser (11-3), the fifth-place team out of the OIA, advanced to the quarterfinal round. The Lady Cougars will face OIA champion Leilehua (12-2) at Moanalua’s gym. Tip-off is at 5 p.m.

It was a triumph in more ways than one for Kaiser, which saw its head coach, Simon Bitanga, sidelined for several weeks due to a DOE investigation. He was eventually cleared.

“Every day we went to the office to find out what was going on. We wrote letters to the DOE,” said Shimaoka, who added 12 rebounds from the guard position. “I feel like we got stronger as a team. We’ve got each other’s backs. All the pressure is gone with him back. Our assistant coaches did a great job.”

The Lady Cougars overcame a superlative defensive performance by KS-Maui’s Kimani Fernandez-Roy. The 5-foot-11 sophomore had four points, nine rebounds and nine blocked shots.

“She was jumping out of the gym,” Bitanga said. “We tried to work around her with our passing, but she covers so much ground.”

Kaiser also overcame the sharpshooting touch of KS-Maui’s Rebeka Revelle, who hit six treys and finished with 22 points.

“She was lights out,” Bitanga said.

Kimura’s clutch 3 came with 2:35 to go, giving Kaiser a 40-39 edge, its first lead since early in the third quarter. KS-Maui had multiple opportunities to regain the lead, but missed layups and turnovers — six in the final quarter — sunk its chances.

The Warriors still had hope, though, thanks to Kaiser’s 5-for-14 shooting at the foul line in the final eight minutes. Shimaoka, who played all 32 minutes, struggled at the foul line (1-for-7), including misses on a couple of 1-and-1s in the final 2:03, and she also missed two more attempts with 48 seconds to go.

Kimura gave the Cougars a bit more cushion by sinking one of two free-throw tries for a 42-39 lead with 40 seconds left.

By then, however, Fernandez-Roy had fouled out and the Warriors missed her passing skills and court vision. The Warriors panicked against Kaiser’s man defense. The Cougars were in a 2-3 zone most of the night before switching in the final two minutes.

“They did a good job changing the pace, turning it into a frantic pace,” KS-Maui coach Victor Aguirre said. “We’ve played games like this in the MIL all season. We’re used to it.”

Kimura sank one more free throw for a 43-39 lead with 22.8 seconds to go, but Revelle drove the length of the court and scored at the rim to cut the lead to two.

Shimaoka then connected at the foul line for the first time, increasing the lead to 44-41 with 12.4 seconds remaining. KS-Maui got one look from the arc, but Ashley Peralta’s wing 3 was partially blocked by Shimaoka as time expired.

“We let this one slip away,” Aguirre said.

A crowd of about 600 at Moanalua, including about 50 KS-Maui fans, saw Revelle crank up three treys in the first quarter to spark the MIL runners-up to a 13-8 lead.

No. 4 Punahou 48, Farrington 28

Kamaile Kandiah scored 14 points as the Buffanblu (13-3) rallied to victory. Elle Uyeda added eight points and Tyra Moe finished with seven.

Moli Heimuli led Farrington with 18 points.

Farrington (10-5), the OIA’s fourth-place team, was well-prepared by coach Caroline Tatupu and led 14-5 after one quarter.

“We challenged the girls to take care of business. Farrington was smart. They went zone on us,” Punahou coach Liz Kam said.

Then came the big blue wave of defense. The Buffanblu used a three-quarter press to stifle the Govs. By the time the game reached a TV timeout midway through the second quarter, Punahou had tied the game at 16. By halftime, the ILH runners-up led 25-17.

It was all Punahou in the second half. With center Va‘e Malufau back on the court after missing last week’s ILH playoffs with a shoulder injury, Moe got a long stretch of rest during the second half.

Punahou will meet No. 1 seed Konawaena in a 7 p.m. game today.

No. 5 Hilo 33, No. 9 Radford 28

Alexis Pana scored 11 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead the Vikings over the Rams. Mandi Kawaha Amar added nine points for Hilo.

Radford’s offense shot 44 percent from the field and outrebounded Hilo 35-15, but committed 26 turnovers compared to the Vikings’ six.

Shaelie Burgess posted a double-double for the Rams with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Hilo meets ILH champion Maryknoll at Kalani.

Mililani 64, No. 7 Roosevelt 48

The Trojans held onto an early 11-point lead to upset the Rough Riders. Kayla Torres poured in 21 points, while Jazmina Lafitaga added 17 points.

Mililani outrebounded Roosevelt 37-24 in the win, but nearly doubled the number of turnovers (23-12).

Keala Quinlan scored a game-high 26 points for Roosevelt.

Mililani advances to play MIL champion Lahainaluna at Kalani.

HHSAA DIVISION I GIRLS

Kaiser 44, KS-Maui 41

KAISER—Brooke Ho 2, Rose Shimaoka 16, Skylar Kimura 8, Kayla Russell 4, Chelsea Soong 3, Stephanie Cannon 0, Trinidee Kahunahana 0, Maalaea Kaneaiakala 11.
KAMEHAMEHA-MAUI—Analis Nitta 0, Megan Miguel 0, Brylee Carillo 0, Rebeka Revelle 19, Talia Leauanae 0, Kimani Fernandez-Roy 4, Kaylee Cambra 7, Ashley Peralta 11.
3-point goals—Kaiser 5 (Kaneaiakala 3, Kimura, Shimaoka). Kamehameha-Maui 7 (Revelle 5, Cambra, Peralta).

No. 4 Punahou 48, Farrington 28

FARRINGTON—Kylie Carganilla 3, Shayla Cabato-Machado 0, Shaniah Paleafei 0, Golden Rowan 0, Lokelani Pacheco 5, Molimau Heimuli 18, Naomi Peltier 0, Brittaney Savusa 0, Chantal Mailou 2.
PUNAHOU—Kamaile Kandiah 14, Lexie Taylor 6, Heaven Wong 2, Kamakani DeBlake 0, Abigail Aplaca 7, Vonica Malufau 4, Kristen Tamagawa 0, Elle Uyeda 8, Tyra Moe 7, Kylie Yamauchi 0, Sunny Rosario 0.
3-point goals—Farrington 1 (Carganilla). Punahou 7 (Taylor 2, Uyeda 2, Moe, Kandiah, Aplaca).

No. 5 Hilo 33, No. 9 Radford 28

RADFORD—Natalie Jackson 5, Puni Seei 0, Salara Dill 0, Michelle Vazquez 2, Jamie Hearther 0, Kyle Johnson 8, Jazmyn Peralta 0, Shaelie Burgess 11, Denise Bell 2.
HILO—Sharry Pagan 2, Alexis Pana 11, Sharlei Graham-Bernisto 2, Ciera Mae Keli‘i 0, Shalyn Guthier 2, Faith Loeak 5, Mandi Kawaha Amar 9, Mele Fatai Vaka 2.
3-point goals—Radford 1 (Jackson). Hilo 5 (Pana 3, Loeak, Amar).

Mililani 64, No. 7 Roosevelt 48

MILILANI—Velisa Meleisea 9, Teona Singletary 4, Kayla Torres 21, Taylor Walker 4, Jazmina Lafitaga 17, Kalena Gibson 9, Cheyenne Ardona 0.
ROOSEVELT—Haven Gabriel 0, Alliya Gabriel 6, Ashley-Alohi Kiko 10, Keala Quinlan 26, Sadie Luiz 0, D-Dre Wright 3, Ciera-Nicole Uchida 3.
3-point goals—Mililani 4 (Torres 2, Lafitaga 2). Roosevelt 4 (Quinlan 3, Uchida).