Leilehua opens campaign with win over McKinley

Leilehua's Mariah Galletes puts up a shot against McKinley. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Victoria Canencia and Mariah Galletes combined for 20 points to pace Leilehua in a 38-29 victory over McKinley in both teams' first action of the girls basketball season.

The Mules jumped out to an 22-11 advantage at halftime, then weathered a 12-0 scoring run by the Tigers in the third quarter that trimmed the lead down to just two points at 25-23 at the 1:41 mark, forcing a Mules timeout.

McKinley never got any closer, however, as Leilehua closed out the quarter with a pair of baskets, and opened the fourth with two more, that brought the margin back to double digits at 33-23.

The Mules let the Tigers hang around by making just three of seven free throws down the stretch, but the Tigers never got closer than seven points down in the fourth.

Galletes led all scorers with 11 and pulled down seven boards, while Victoria Canencia had a game-high seven steals and added two assists and four rebounds in the win.

The Tigers were led by Kyanna Balinbin with 10 points and two threes, and Raychelle Tavai who added 8 points, two threes, three boards and assist and two steals. Princess Samuelu came off the bench and chipped in six points, nine boards amd 5 steals.

Despite a decided advantage size wise, the Mules enjoyed just a plus-three margin in the rebound category (32 to 29), but blocked four shots to the Tigers' none.