Kiana Ramos scored seven of her 12 points in the final quarter as Kapolei held off Pearl City for a 55-40 win on Friday night in OIA girls basketball.
Ramos also had a key steal during the fourth quarter to help the visiting Hurricanes withstand a furious rally by the Chargers.
Makiah Ahana finished with a team-high 13 points, Leila Paraon scored 11 and Breanna Lewis added nine for Kapolei, now 4-1 in OIA West play.
“I feel we could’ve done better, but I feel OK,” Hurricanes coach Shane Lino said.
Kapolei suited up eight players and has one more set to return from injury soon. The Hurricanes won their first three games before forfeiting to Aiea earlier in the week due to a depleted roster, partly due to positive COVID tests.
“It feels good to be on the court, but the losses still has a hole in us. We wanted to be out there because we’re hungry to play,” Ramos said. “In the first quarter, that was our best energy.”
“She came up clutch. She came up big,” Lino added. “Her endurance, we practice hard. We work hard. Nobody wants to run, but our style of play, you’ve got to run and they know they’ve got to push, which they did tonight.”
Division II Pearl City showed potential during a second-half run that turned a 21-point deficit into an eight-point gap.
“I’m very proud of them. We just played hard. I just wanted them to play hard,” Chargers coach Henri Aylward said. “If we can get a start like we did that third quarter, things might (have been) a little bit different, but it’s good to see that they fought to the end.”
Using a relentless fullcourt press, Kapolei led 19-2 after one quarter and 34-15 entering the second half.
The lead grew to 21 before Pearl City got 11 third-quarter points from Shilee Scanlan to pull within 40-32. The big rally ran out of steam, however, as the fourth quarter began.
Ramos scored on fast-break two-on-one buckets, and had one of the game’s big hustle plays by tracking down a Chargers ballhandler from behind to steal the ball, which led to another Kapolei bucket.
Her 23-foot straightaway 3 on a pass from Ahana helped the ’Canes keep their lead in double digits.
Scanlan finished with a game-high 19 points, with all her scoring in the second and third quarters. Post Cordelia Seei provided 11 points and a lot of grit on both ends.
Pearl City, 1-3, could make a run from this point. Former Hanalani All-State selection Lishae Scanlan is due to return soon from injury.