Amari Westmoreland-Vendiola (3) goes up for a point-blank shot to score two of his game-high 24 points. Brandon Ching | SL

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Tue, Feb 1, 2022 @ Roosevelt

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Kahuku

48

Roosevelt

36

Final	1	2	3	4
Kahuku (12-2, 14-4)	11	11	12	14	48
Roosevelt (10-5, 10-6)	7	13	7	9	36

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

K. Lewis 13 pts  3/3 FTs

A. Westmoreland-Vendiola 24 pts  2 3pm  4/4 FTs

K. Davis 4 tot  4 def

L. Ah You 7 tot  2 off  5 def

K. Seguancia 1 ast

A. Naihe 1 ast

MAKIKI—No. 7 Kahuku overcame a slow first half, but flipped the switch in the second half to roll past Roosevelt, 48-36 in an Oahu Interscholastic Association East contest Tuesday.

Amari Westmoreland-Vendiola, who is averaging 25.7 points per game, dropped 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting and pulled down five boards and had two steals and a block to help the Red Raiders remain unbeaten at 8-0.

Ben Holakeituai added seven points and four rebounds off the bench and three different Red Raiders chipped in four points.

"It's getting better, Holakeituai said of his shot. "I have to make it better because today they were face guarding Amari."

The Rough Riders went to a zone defense to make it difficult for the Red Raiders to score early on. Roosevelt held a 7-5 lead off of Kayman Lewis' drive, but Kahuku went on a 6-0 run to close out the quarter to take a 11-7 lead going into the second.

"I feel like we have to start the game a little bit more stronger, but we're getting there," Westmoreland-Vendiola said.

Westmoreland-Vendiola put the Red Raiders up by seven, but Roosevelt chipped away after Kamuela Kaaihue (8 points) converted back-to-back putbacks to bring the Rough Riders within two and Lewis tied the game at 16 on a layup. The game went through two more lead changes until Brock Fonoimoana sank a pair of free throws to give Kahuku a 22-20 lead going into halftime.

"They (Roosevelt) did a good job packing it in and we weren't hitting early on. Guys were getting frustrated and we were getting in foul trouble. But as the game went on, the guys picked it up and got going in the second half," Kahuku coach Brandyn Akana said.

Kaaihue tied the game at 22 with free throws at the 6:48 mark but went cold for the next five minutes as Kahuku went on a 9-0 run sparked by Westmoreland-Vendiola. Aiken Naihe followed up with a 3-pointer and Westmoreland-Vendiola threw down a two-handed dunk in transition and Denzon Seui-Sika added his only points of the game during the scoring run.

"I felt we locked in on defense going into the second half and that brought us the momentum. Everyone played their role," Westmoreland-Vendiola said.

Kahuku scored 16 points off turnovers that helped break open the game.

"We have to good play good defense and that's going to allow us to get some runs and get on it offensively. It worked," Akana said.

The Rough Riders got their first field goal of the quarter after Lewis made a layup at around the 1:04 mark and cut the deficit down to seven after completing a three-point play going into the fourth. He led the Rough Riders with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting and four steals.

Roosevelt was able to trail by nine following Lewis' technical free throws, but could not get any closer as Westmoreland-Vendiola scored the next eight points and the Red Raiders went up by as much as 18.

"He's our leader and he took it over. I got on him in the first half and said, ‘You're our leader and captain'. Third quarter came and he got it rolling for us. That's with leaders, once they get rolling, then others start to feel confident and are right there with him," Akana said of Westmoreland-Vendiola.

Roosevelt shot 12 of 36 (33 percent) while Kahuku was 18 of 48 (37 percent) from the field. The Red Raiders were a perfect 8 for 8 from the free throw line while the Rough Riders shot 12 of 22.

Kahuku out rebounded Roosevelt, 28 to 13 and were able to score 11 second-chance points off 12 offensive rebounds.

Kahuku has a home game against Farrington (1-7) on Friday, Feb. 4 while Roosevelt hosts Moanalua (4-4) on the same night.