Radford ekes past Kamehameha-Maui for opening round win

Brien Ing | SL

The flight home from the Valley Isle was definitely a happy one this time around for the Rams.

Radford won a closely fought contest over gritty Kamehameha-Maui, 37-36, marking the Rams' first win in the regional format era of the HHSAA Division I girls basketball tournament.

That span included two prior trips to Maui, one just a year ago, a 46-42 loss to the Sabers.

"It was definitely big for us, after all the times we came here and didn't win, it feels good being the team that finally won," said senior guard Jirah Villanueva, who had a team-high 13 points, including a big three-pointer in the waning moments of the third that stretched the Radford lead to double-digits at 33-23.

That lead slowly but surely dwindled to just two over the next four minutes and change, as the Warriors battled their way back, closing out the third with a jumper by Taylor Schnitzer and opening the fourth with a huge three by Shanti Rae Visaya to cut the margin in half.

Schnitzer's pair of free throws made it 33-30, and the Kamehameha-Maui big hit another free throw with 6:11 in regulation to bring the home team to within a basket at 33-31.

Radford at that point really needed to stop the Warriors' momentum and turned to Julissa Bollinger, who found a cutting Lyla Matthews at the right low block. Matthews made the basket to push the lead to four.

"There were a lot of ups and downs that game and I think every little basket, every little spot was crucial for us," said Bollinger.

On the ensuing Rams' possession, it was freshman Ikena Eulit-Frank with the clutch jumper that extended the margin to 37-31.

"We always expect her to come out at a high level, so being able to get those shots from her it was big for us," said Villanueva of Eulit-Frank, who came off the bench with four points.

Kamehameha-Maui made one last push in the final two minutes, as Schnitzer's lay gave her a game-high 14 and jumper by Visaya plus the foul with 2:04 left made it a one point contest with 2:04 to play.

The Warriors had a chance to win it with 15 seconds left in the regulation, but Visaya's desperation heave from the left wing was contested by Julissa Bollinger to end it.

"I want to thank our coaches for the great call to switch on all the screens," said Bollinger, who had eight points and seven rebounds in the game. "That's what they wanted to do, come off the screens and shoot. I was lucky to be there and not foul."

Up next for the Rams is a quarterfinal matchup with BIIF champ Konawaena.

"Something our coaches always say is, 'keep riding until the wheels fall off,' and that's what we're going to do," said Bollinger. "We're going to practice hard, learn from our mistakes this game, come back swinging and try to get that win."