Girls Basketball
Pologa ignites Kaimuki's 46-35 comeback against Kapolei


KAPOLEI-Princess Lauvao scored a game-high 19 points with six rebounds, but Alison Pologa ignited a 14-0 fourth-quarter run that helped Kaimuki rally past host Kapolei, 46-35, Tuesday night in the opening round of the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red girls' basketball tournament.

The Bulldogs (7-5) will visit East champion Roosevelt (11-0) in a quarterfinal at 6 o'clock tonight. The winner secures one of six OIA berths to the Division I state tournament.

Kaimuki beat Roosevelt, 54-33, during their regular season meeting at Roosevelt.

The Hurricanes (6-5), who came from an 18-13 halftime deficit with a 14-4 third quarter, are done for the season.

Kapolei's Chemayne Yago scored all of her team-high eight points within about a two-and-half-minute span from the end of the third quarter to the start of the fourth that gave her team a 29-22 lead after she went coast-to-coast and scored on a layup.

After going scoreless the first three quarters, Pologa drained a 3-pointer that ignited a 14-0 run in which she accounted for eight points. But it wasn't just her offense that turned up. She had four steals, one of which she turned into a basket during the run.

"When one shot hits from the outside, it kind of changes the whole defense because now they're going to have to play on the outside," Kaimuki coach Mona Faasoa said. "In the beginning, we couldn't even find our shot to save our lives."

Down 18-13, Kapolei came out strong in the second half, banging the inside, scoring its first six baskets during an 8-0 run with its big girls, Malia Folaumahina (two points) and Kela Whitehurst (four points), to take a 21-18 lead.

The Bulldogs fought back to regain the lead when Lauvao scored off a steal and later Nikki Vongprachanh went 2 for 2 at the free throw line with 2:42 left in the third quarter to make ti 22-21.

But Yago scored off an of an offensive rebound with about two minutes left. It was the first of four unanswered baskets that continued into the fourth quarter that gave the Hurricanes at 29-22 lead.

"Those girls came out wanting to win," Faasoa said of the Hurricanes. "They had heart. They worked hard all the way to the end, even down 10 with seconds left, they're still pushing."

Kaimuki's Canny Aikau had eight steals to along with her seven points.

Anne Souza also had eight points for Kapolei, including two 3-pointers.

But Kapolei didn't help its cause with 1-of-8 free-throw shooting.

The winners of Wednesday's quarterfinals advance to Saturday's semifinals at Waipahu. Wednesday's losers will play in the fifth-place semifinals to round out the final two OIA berths to the state tournament.



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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