OIA Girls Basketball
Pearl City pulls away from Nanakuli to remain undefeated in OIA West play


  



Fri, Dec 29, 2023 @ Pearl City


Final 1 2 3 4  
Nanakuli (6-5, 7-7) 3 166732
Pearl City (7-6, 11-7) 12 8 14 1751
C. Bulatao 13 pts  1/2 FTs
M. Muaau 13 pts  3/6 FTs
S. Scanlan 9 tot  6 off  3 def
M. Muaau 13 tot  4 off  9 def
J. Liana 7 ast

The switched was flipped after halftime.

Pearl City broke open a one-point game at the break with a dominant second half to down visiting Nanakuli, 51-32, Friday night in an OIA West contest.

Three player scored in double figures to lead the Chargers, who continued their undefeated run to start the regular season as they improved to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in league play.

Chloe Bulatao scored 13 points with three steals while sophomore guard Aiesha DeWeever and senior forward Kaiesha DeWeever each added 11 points with seven rebounds to round out the leading scorers for Pearl City. The younger DeWeever sister also notched seven assists.

The Chargers held a 20-19 lead at halftime before outscoring the Golden Hawks (3-4, 3-2) by 18 points in the second half.

Pearl City did it with energy.

With Nanakuli having just seven players suited up, the Chargers pushed the pace and turned up the pressure defensively to get buckets in transition.

"I liked our energy and our enthusiasm," said Pearl City coach Kyle Martin. "At halftime we just regrouped, started the third quarter and we were able to come out with energy and focus.

"We told our girls that we're at our best when we're running the court, defense turns into offense for us."

The Chargers trap a Nanakuli player in the post in the second quarter. Michael Lasquero | SL    Purchase image

The Chargers opened the game with a 12-1 lead before turning the ball over seven times in the second quarter to let the Golden Hawks get back into it.

"Nanakuli revved it up," said Martin. "They got the energy, they got girls that can move. Our girls I think got a little excited. We started to rush our passes, make things a little faster than we needed to be."

Pearl City took care of the ball better in the second half and assisted on 10 of its 11 made field goals after the break.

"Chemistry is so huge with these girls, they trust each other, they play for each other," said Martin.

The Chargers also did a better job on the boards after halftime as they got seven offensive boards in the third quarter. Shilee Scanlan led the effort with nine of Pearl City's 39 rebounds, six coming on the offensive glass.

"Honestly at halftime we went over blocking out a lot because we were undersized," said Martin. "They were bigger than us, but our girls are used to that. We just had to go over blocking out, techniques, fundamentals, all stuff the girls know. They just had to do it. Second half we just cleaned it up a lot better."

Maesha Muaau had a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Golden Hawks in the loss.



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




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