Mililani's Sarah Liva challenges a shot attempt by Moanalua's Cherie Bento. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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012514_gbkMiliMoa_0557.jpg - Greg Yamamoto | SL

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HALAWA - Sarah Liva scored a season-high 28 points and No. 4 Mililani downed No. 9 Moanalua, 60-53, Saturday night in a semifinal of the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red girls basketball tournament at Radford's Jim Alegre Gym.

The win sets up a classic showdown of unbeaten division champions for Wednesday night's Red title game at Radford. The West champion Trojans (12-0) will meet the East champion and No. 3 Roosevelt (12-0). The Rough Riders are looking for their first crown since 2007, while the Trojans are seeking their first. In last year's title game, Mililani lost to Leilehua, 58-55, in overtime.

Liva, a 6-foot-2 senior center, owned the paint, doing all of her scoring inside. The Trojans exploited their clear height advantage against the shorter Na Menehune.

"She is a big force out there," Moanalua coach Tani Almont-Done said. "Our tallest is 5-9, so we had to make an adjustment in the second half and were able to slow her down a little. But it was hard in the beginning. We were playing good D, but there's only so much you can do to stop her."

Liva exploited the inside on both sides of the court. Teammates kept feeding her the ball when she got near the basket. When her teammates missed, Liva finished the plays off with four putbacks. On the other side of the court, she had 11 rebounds. She had 15 total rebounds.

She wasn't the only big wreaking havoc on Moanalua. Shanel Appleby, a 5-11 forward, had 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

"We were working on that over-lob pass," Mililani coach Pat Basilio said. "All week, we were working on inside seal, as well as Shantel's inside seal. All (Liva) needs is the ball to be within her wingspan and she's going to get in there."

Liva is the first to admit she got a lot of help. Of her 12 field goals, four were off offensive rebounds, but her other eight were off assists. Mililani had 17 assists, led by Mikaela Limpers six, Summer Bolibol's four and Appleby's three.

"I'm very thankful to my teammates," Liva said. "I can't do anything without them. It's a team effort. Our coaches tell us we're family. I wouldn't be able to do anything without them."

The Trojans stormed to a 31-19 lead at the half. Liva had 16 of her team's points.

Na Menehune made a strong run in the third period to cut their deficit with the help of LaChae McColor, who had 18 of her team-high 24 points in the second half. But the closest Moanalua could ever close to was within five, which it did on four occasions, the final with six seconds left on a McColor 3-pointer. Needing two possessions, Moanalua fouled with five seconds left and Limper sealed the game by sinking both her free throws that made it 60-53.

The win came with a price for Mililani. Zyriana Davies, a 5-8 forward who is the Trojans' first "big" off the bench, injured her posterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, Basilio said. The coach is hopeful she will be available for the state tournament, which begins Feb. 7. But Davies, who had three defensive rebounds off the bench, will miss Wednesday's title game against Roosevelt.

McColor was Moanalua's bright spot. She had four steals, scoring off one of them and six rebounds. Ciera O'Brien scored all of her nine points in the second half and had two steals and two assists before fouling out. Jazmina Lafitaga added eight points with five steals, scoring off two of them.

When the Trojans meet the Rough Riders, it will be a matchup of opposites attracted to each other. Mililani relies on its bigs; Roosevelt is strong in the backcourt.

"I think it's going to be a classic," Basilio said. "The matchup will be good."