Kaelyn Espinda scored 19 points and Victoria Kintz dished nine assists as unbeaten Kaimuki exploded in the third quarter for a 58-31 road victory at Roosevelt on Thursday night.
Peka Scott came off the bench to score 13 points, all in the second half, to help ignite the ninth-ranked Bulldogs, who improved to 5-0 in Oahu Interscholastic Association East play. Roosevelt, which lost to Kahuku earlier in the week, slipped to 3-2.
Espinda hit two treys and had nine points during the third when the Bulldogs went on a 21-6 run. That turned a 23-18 halftime score into a 20-point lead after three quarters. Kaimuki did it with rugged man-to-man defense.
“That’s not really what we want to do,” longtime coach Mona Fa‘asoa said. “We work on a variety of defenses, but we had to go man. That first half was extremely dismal.”
A big part of the coach’s woes in the first half was rebounding. Roosevelt grabbed nine offensive boards and was in the bonus early, hitting nine of 16 at the foul line to stay close. That effort helped overcome 4-for-23 shooting from the field.
“That’s the best first half we’ve played,” first-year Rough Riders coach Chad Kapihe said. “That’s a tough Kaimuki team and we’ve got lots of inexperience. This is a step forward, so I’m proud of our team. I’m glad we gave (Kaimuki) a first half.”
Kintz, the top returnee for Kaimuki, had seven points, five rebounds and three steals to go with her game-high nine dimes. The rebounding woes subsided in the second half as Kaimuki went to man defense and limited Roosevelt to five offensive caroms after the break.
“We’ve just got to keep on practicing it,” said Kintz, who will play at Holy Names (Calif.) next season. “Some days we rebound well and some days we don’t. Sometimes, we’ve got to get chewed out (by Fa‘asoa).”
The home team cut the lead to 23-20 early in the third quarter on Mari Foster’s layup, but Espinda hit a layup on a long pass by Kintz. Espinda then hit a corner 3 on another dish from Kintz, and Scott made her first shot, a wing 3. After Espinda hit a free throw and Scott swished a baseline jumper, it was suddenly 34-20.
Kaimuki also got a boost from reserves Alissa Chun and Anastasia Vea during the run. Chun hustled for two layups as her teammates beat double-team traps and found her open, and Vea drilled a wing 3. After Espinda beat the buzzer with a pull-up 3, the visitors led 44-24 entering the fourth quarter.
Roosevelt, which got 11 points from Sunshine Vicente, got within 48-29 on free throws by Anuhea Tadaki and Taylor Tateyama, but got no closer.
Espinda, a sophomore, added six rebounds and four assists.
