Radford, Moanalua to square off in OIA Division I semifinals


Radford's Jirah Villanueva (10) attempts a three-point shot in the second quarter against the Red Raiders. CJ Caraang | SL

Survive and advance.

Jirah Villanueva scored a game-high 19 points to lead short-handed No. 10 Radford past Kahuku, 33-25, in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I quarterfinals at Moanalua.

After the Red Raiders (10-3) put up 81 points on Nanakuli (5-6) in the opening round the night before, six of the seven Rams (10-1) who saw action controlled the pace and packed in their 2-3 zone to hold Kahuku to their lowest scoring output of the season.

"I thought the girls played with a lot of heart. We got some girls out because of injury or illness. So tonight was about survival and Kahuku gave us a really tough game," Radford coach Charles Chong said.

"You have to play good defense, pack it in and make them prove it from the outside and you have to rebound against Kahuku. Don't let them get into a running game. We have to control the tempo. Run when you can but if you have to slow game down to a snail's pace. It was alright until we made wonky decision that gave them chances."

Radford advances to the 5:30 p.m. semifinal game on Monday to face Salt Lake Boulevard rival Moanalua (12-0) while No. 4 Campbell (11-0) faces Kaiser (10-1) in the 7:30 p.m. nightcap. The four teams clinched state tournament berths.

Kahuku will face Leilehua (8-4) in the fifth place bracket. Winner of that game takes on the winner of Kailua (9-4)/Mililani (9-3) for the final two berths.

Tuisila Wily-Ava scored the first points of the fourth for the Red Raiders and Leila Hannemann's putback near the 4:20 mark brought Kahuku within three, 26-23.

Mailana Mattos split the one-and-one with 2:53 left. Villanueva's runner dropped 18 seconds later for the Rams' first field goal and put Radford up 10 by going 5-for-5 from the free throw line to put the game out of reach.

Villanueva shot 10-for-12 (83.3 percent) from the free throw line and Radford shot 11-for-15 (73.3 percent) overall.

Mattos came off the bench to score six points and grabbed eight rebounds despite battling fatigue.

"She (Mattos) couldn't start tonight because she missed a day of practice. It was just that. She was tired, her body needed rest. A full season of going full on. I said halftime, ‘Your team needs you to be a leader and leave it on the floor. I thought she did better (in the second half)," Chong said of Mattos.

Kahuku shot 11-for-46 (23.9 percent) from the field and was 0-for-17 from the 3-point line. Hannemann led the Red Raiders with eight points.

The Red Raiders used their size and physicality to out-rebound the Rams, 30 to 21.

"That was the game plan. It worked pretty well. We knew their advantage was their size and they were going to go inside. We tried to make them prove it from the outside. We got tired and stopped blocking out that led to easy baskets and not taking care of the basketball made it more difficult. Kahuku takes advantage of your mistakes, that's how they were scoring," Chong said.

Radford took an 8-0 lead in the first quarter and Tuua Cravens got Kahuku on the score board but trailed going into the second.

The Red Raiders made a run to pull within three, 11-8 following Posia Wily's putback. Radford answered as Umetsu drained a runner and Kaali Aviles scored on a cut from Aniyah Clark.

Olena Umetsu scored six points and Clark grabbed five rebounds.

"The role players, we challenged them to step up. You have to play defense against some tough athletes. I told Olena, ‘You have to be more aggressive and look for your shot.' She hit some key momentum-shifters for us. I liked to see Aniyah hustling and she did what she could and Kaali Aviles battled," Chong said.

Hannemann added a putback and Wily scored off a steal, but Villanueva hit a baseline jumper to give the Rams a 17-12 advantage at halftime.

Kahuku got within four twice in the third but Villanueva's drive gave Radford a 25-17 lead. After Shaianne Taosoga came up empty at the free throw line, 14 seconds later, Villanueva was fouled but split her pair of free throws for a 26-19 lead going into the fourth.

Moanalua 47, Leilehua 28

Three Na Menehune players scored in double figures to run past the Mules in the quarterfinal nightcap.

Braylee Riturban led the home team with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go along with six boards. Shailoh Liilii got 10 points and seven rebounds, and Akaecia Mateo also added 10 points.

Anniversary Filisi led Leilehua with 13 points, eight rebounds and brought the Mules within three in the second quarter. However, Moanalua answered with a 7-0 run to close out the quarter and went up, 25-15 going into halftime and never looked back.

Tehani Docktor grabbed a game-high 10 boards and blocked a pair of shots to go along with four steals.

All players on Moanalua's roster got playing time in the fourth quarter.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].