Radford's Malcom Hill puts up a layup shot against Kahuku. Sylvia Lee | SL

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020514_SL-BBKB-KAH_RAD-9887.jpg - Sylvia Lee | SL

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Practice makes perfect, but who would have worked on half-court shots?

Radford did and the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red West third seed escaped with a thrilling 71-69 win in overtime to oust East sixth seed Kahuku Wednesday night in the opening round of the Red tournament at James Alegre Gym.

The Rams (8-3) will travel to Kalaheo (9-2) in a quarterfinal Thursday night. The winner secures a Division I state berth; the loser will have to battle its way through the consolation round to advance to the states.

"Radford played relentless and very hard," Kahuku coach Darren Johnson said.

Malcolm Hill's sixth 3-pointer of the game - an incredible heave from just inside the half-court line at the buzzer - tied the game at 63, sending the game into overtime and sending some overzealous fans onto the court.

"We worked on half-court shots at practice yesterday," said Hill, who led with a game-high 23 points. All of his field goals were his six 3-pointers, five coming in the second half.

Radford coach Nelson Lau said the team worked on long shots to loosen things up at practice. It not only paid off, but made for a fantastic finish.

"I'm speechless," Lau said. "I've never been in a game like this."

A crowd of about 250 went wild, perhaps a bit much. After some confusion and discussion, a technical foul was charged against Radford for the excessive celebration by its fans. Since it happened after time expired, the technical free throws were assessed at the start of the OT period.

Keanu Akina made one of the two technical foul shots, a tell-tale sign of Kahuku's troubles in OT, when it was 6 of 12 from the line. But the Red Raiders weren't the only ones with jitters at the line; Radford was 6 of 13. The difference was Tobias Powell's driving layup with 2:35 left that tied the game at 65. He made the ensuing free throw to complete the three-point play to give gave Radford the lead it would not relinquish. Powell's layup was the only field goal of the OT. He finished the game with 19 points.

Radford padded its lead to 71-69 with 14 seconds left in OT after Izaiah Lavatai made of one of his two free throws.

Kahuku brought the ball down court and called time with eight seconds left. But the Red Raiders turned over the ball on a double dribble with 5.9 seconds. Radford's Lavatai was subsequently fouled with 4.2 seconds, but missed both free throws. Huleia Naeole got the rebound for Kahuku and two passes later, Samuta Avea's running layup at the buzzer missed to end the game.

Kahuku owned most of the first half, but trailed 24-23 with 3:51 in the second period before going on a 9-0 run that had resulted in three consecutive field goals off three steals that helped the Red Raiders take a 34-27 lead into the break.

Kahuku scored the first basket of the second half to make it 36-27, but that ignited Hill, who aided a 14-0 run by the Rams with three successive 3-pointers and gave Radford a 41-36 lead. But the Red Raiders closed the quarter with a 9-0 run to take a 49-43 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Red Raiders were able to open a 62-57 lead with 19 seconds left after Avea made one of two free throws. But Hill's 3-pointer with seven seconds pulled Radford to 62-60.

Kahuku had a golden opportunity to secure the game at the free-throw line, as Radford had to foul to regain possession. But Chance Maghanoy missed two with six second left and Hinkley Latu  made only of of two with 3.3 seconds left to give Kahuku a 63-60 lead. The missed free throws proved costly. After the Rams inbounded the ball, Hill made his miraculous shot from just inside the half-court line to send the game into OT.

It was Kahuku's fourth OT of the OIA season; it is 1-3 in extra periods. Yet, it was great effort from a team that used primarily underclassmen all game long. Three freshmen, a sophomore and three juniors saw considerable action. But Johnson said he coached his last game for Kahuku.

"Somebody's going to be lucky to have a good team next year," Johnson said. "I'm done."