Kalaheo's Kaleb Gilmore scored a game-high 20 points against Roosevelt. Evan Asato | SL

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Wed, Feb 4, 2015 @ Roosevelt

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Kalaheo

51

Roosevelt

41

Final	1	2	3	4
Kalaheo (13-1, 31-3)	11	11	10	19	51
Roosevelt (5-6, 10-13)	20	8	5	8	41

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

V. Inaura 13 pts  1/1 FTs

K. Gilmore 20 pts  2 3pm  8/12 FTs

K. Foster 6 tot

K. Harrison 9 tot

K. Foster 2 ast

K. Harrison 2 ast

MAKIKI — The shots weren't falling early, but like a top-ranked team often does, Kalaheo battled through the adversity.

Kaleb Gilmore scored a game-high 20 points and Kupaa Harrison added 11 points and nine rebounds as Kalaheo remained undefeated by rallying past host Roosevelt, 51-41, Wednesday night.

The Mustangs, the No. 1 team in the ScoringLive/OC16 Boys Basketball Power Rankings, improved to 10-0 and clinched the Eastern Division's top seed in the upcoming Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Tournament.

"It feels good, but it wasn't a pretty way to wrap it up," said Gilmore, who scored nine points in the fourth quarter. "It was a little frustrating. Nothing was falling in the beginning or in the end, but we found a way to win, so that's all that matters."

Kalaheo trailed 20-8 after the opening quarter and shot just 8 of 22 from the field in the first half.

"We played out of character," Mustangs' coach Alika Smith said. "Some of the guys weren't ready to play, so I made some changes and those guys that came off the bench — Ashton Arnold to Alec MacLeod and Alex Layi as well — really picked up the pace, along with Captain Whitlock."

The Rough Riders' lead was cut to 28-22 by halftime, but the visitors opened the second half on an 8-0 run that was coupled with a four-minute and 18-second Roosevelt scoreless stretch.

MacLeod's easy bucket off an assist from Harrison pulled Kalaheo within 33-32 after three quarters. It was the start of a 12-2 run by the Mustangs, who took the lead for good on a Harrison putback with 5:57 to play.

Henry Maumalanga got a steal and consequent layup with 2:05 remaining to keep the Rough Riders within 44-40 of Kalaheo. However, the Mustangs closed out the game on a 9-1 run and made seven of 11 free throws in the final quarter.

"They are very, very scrappy," Smith said of Roosevelt. "They came into our house last year and beat us by 17, I believe, but we knew we were going to be in a dog fight. They play a lot of people tough, they're very talented, they've been together for some time, those seniors, so we knew we were going to be getting their best shot with what was on the line with senior night as well as playoffs for them."

Smith said he wasn't overly concerned with the lack of offensive production early on.

"We missed a bunch of easy buckets with Kupaa down there," Smith said. "Kaleb missed a couple, but we were working it to what we wanted to do, but it just wasn't falling and they were getting some fast breaks that put us in the hole eight or nine (points) or something in that first quarter, so we had to battle back and it was a battle."

Gilmore said the Mustangs will have to do better with the playoffs right around the corner.

"It doesn't really matter if we're tired or sluggish, it's still a game and we've got to come prepared," Gilmore said. "We didn't come prepared and it showed."

Kalaheo concludes the regular season with a home game against Moanalua Friday, while Roosevelt visits Kalani.

The Rough Riders, who have now lost three straight  games and four of their last five, fell to 4-6 and were eliminated from postseason contention with the loss and McKinley's win over Kalani Wednesday.

"I told them there's nothing I can tell them right now to make them feel better right now. There's nothing anybody is going to tell them," Roosevelt coach Steve Hathaway said prior to the start of senior night festivities. "They feel that they did everything that they had to do to win that game."

Valen Inaura had 13 points and Kevin Foster added 10 points for the Rough Riders.