In what was a grind-it-out defensive struggle for nearly a quarter and a half of play suddenly morphed into a uptempo track meet, as Roosevelt seized control of the game midway through the second with ball pressure and transition offense, then weathered a frenetic Kaimuki run in the opening minutes of the final quarter to come away with a 54-33 win in both team's Oahu Interscholastic Association Red division openers.

The Bulldogs closed to within a point at 11-10 on a Princess Lauvao basket followed by a Nikki Vongprachanh free throw with just over 4 minutes in the quarter, but they would not get any closer.

Roosevelt would end the half on a 10-0 scoring run, fueled by five points during the stretch by Tavae Sina Sofa and punctuated by forward Devyn Kauhi's three-pointer from the top of the key that gave the Rough Riders a double-digit cushion at the break.

"We like to run the floor." said Roosevelt head coach Hinano Higa. "And its the first year (in a while that) we have some bigs that can run the floor too."

The Rough Riders came out as advertised in the third, as Starr Rivera stroked a three-pointer from the top of the key to open the quarter and then proceeded to run the fast-break drill to perfection on back-to-back sequences to expand the lead to 18.

"Starr comes off the bench for us, our sixth man." remarked Higa. "She gives us a lot of energy."

Alexis Bennett also provided spark off the bench, pouring in 9 points in the quarter as the Rough Riders scoring run hit 24-0 before a Bulldogs broke the drought with a made free-throw at the 2:57 mark. She would finish with a game-high 11.

The Bulldogs clearly missed the presence of Lauvao, who sat out the majority of the third saddled with three fouls.

"Princess is a big part of that team." said Higa of the 5-foot-9 transfer from Lahainaluna. "She came out of the game and we just tried to take advantage."

Roosevelt did that and then some, finishing off the period outscoring Kaimuki 23-5.

But the fourth quarter saw a bit of role reversal, as the Bulldogs mounted a mini-comeback in the opening minutes, stretching out to a 10-0 scoring advantage on the strength of a full-court press that gave the Rough Riders some difficulty, and the gritty play of guards Canny Aikau and Vongprachahn, who each finished with a team-high 10 points.

The lead would grow no smaller than 19 points down the stretch however, as Kauhi's second three of the game at the 4:12 mark seemed to knock the lid off the Roosevelt basket, and the Rough Riders would close out the scoring on a layup by Stacia Matsumura with just a few ticks left.

Aikau scored 9 of her 10 points in the fourth in a valiant fourth quarter spurt for the Bulldogs.

Fouls was be a bit of an issue for Roosevelt, as two post players would foul ou and three others were saddled with 3 or more fouls. Kaimuki only drew 11 whistles compared to 22 for the home team.