The sophomore stepped up in the battle of OIA East unbeatens.

Moanalua forward/center Shailoh Liilii had 16 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots as No. 10-ranked Moanalua clinched first place in the East with a rugged 61-50 win over previously unbeaten Kaiser on Tuesday night.

“I feel good. That was an anxiety type of game. We did good in the first half. We came out in the second half and got into foul trouble. Girls started cramping up, Jamie and Braylee. Rheanna (Nobleza) fouled out,” Moanalua coach Kirk Ronolo said. “We knew Kaiser was going to bring it. It was like a heavyweight fight, back and forth. Fortunately, we came out on top.”

Moanalua is 10-0 in league play (16-6 overall) with a road game at Roosevelt on Thursday to close out the regular season. Moanalua and Kaiser (9-5, 8-1) had already clinched first-round byes in the upcoming playoffs.

“To me, we just won another game. One game at a time is what I tell the girls,” Ronolo added. “The beast is in the West. If you want to beat the best, you have to take it to them.”

Braylee Riturban controlled the Moanalua offense and finished with six points, five assists and three rebounds, along with just three turnovers despite suffering leg cramps in the fourth quarter.

“Kaiser had a really fast transition. We were getting a little lazy. We weren’t keeping track of where our man was and people were going backdoor,” Riturban said. “We’ve got to get more conditioned for playoffs.”

Nobleza fouled out with five points in the third quarter, but sophomore Akaecia Mateo stepped up with 17 points, four rebounds and five steals. She also had 10 of her team’s 26 turnovers. Jamie Smith, a junior, provided consistency with eight points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and only two turnovers.

Kaiser showed plenty of grit, refusing to surrender after falling behind by 19, but the gap was too big to make up.

“Moanalua, they capitalized on our mistakes,” Cougars coach Noah Keolanui said. “Our ball movement was pretty good, but our shots weren’t falling in the first half.”

The game was often fast, wild and messy as the teams combined for a plethora of fastbreak buckets and turnovers — 53 combined.

It was a 9-8 lead in Moanalua’s favor after one quarter. Na Menehune stepped in and took three charging. fouls, including two by Alexus Ma‘ae, who sat for most of the second quarter as a result.

In the second quarter, the home team exploded with a 23-5 run. Courtney Abalos banked in a 3, then splashed a corner 3 as Moanalua erupted. Smith sank a free throw, Nobleza made a corner 3 and drove for a left-handed layup. After Riturban hit two free throws and Smith drove for a lefty layup of her own, Na Menehune had a commanding 32-13 lead with 2:04 left in the first half.

Ma‘ae finished with 18 points and eight rebounds for Kaiser, but had just four points in the first half on 2-for-8 shooting from the field.

“Shailoh did a great job. That was our game plan. I told the girls to funnel Alexus to the middle. Excellent execution of the game plan,” Ronolo said. “A player like Alexus, it’s a matter of time before she figures it out.”

Defense in the paint mattered and Liilii was ready.

“I didn’t want to make these reckless fouls. I tried to time the ball. My volleyball friend helped me with, like, when the ball goes up, that’s when I go up,” Liilii said. “I used to go up when they go up.”

Tendee Kahunahana finished with 15 points, but committed nine turnovers.

Maylee Moe chipped in nine points and three boards.

Kaiser will close the regular season at home against Kaimuki on Thursday.