Ninth-ranked Campbell and fifth-ranked Leilehua bring identical 9-0 records into their showdown at Paul T. Kobayashi Gymnasium. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Ninth-ranked Campbell and fifth-ranked Leilehua bring identical 9-0 records into their showdown at Paul T. Kobayashi Gymnasium. ScoringLive photo illustration

View image 1 of 1

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The Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division will come down to one game.

Unbeatens Campbell and Leilehua will face off at the Mules' Paul T. Kobayashi Gymnasium Friday night in the regular-season finale for both teams. The ninth-ranked Sabers and fifth-ranked Mules bring identical 9-0 records into the matchup, which is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip off.

The coaches of both squads are pleased with the progress they've seen over the course of the season.

"So far the season is going to what we talked about before the season started," Campbell coach Wyatt Tau said. "I'm glad we're at this point. The kids have been getting better each game and we're limiting our mistakes, so that's helping us as we go toward the end of the season."

Leilehua coach Pat Wetzel had much of the same to say about his group.

"Obviously, no complaints. We're 9-0, so it could obviously be worse, but at the same time we don't only look at that, but how we're playing," Wetzel said. "We're better defensively than we were in the preseason, offensively we're getting more people involved, so I'm happy with the development of the team, but it's a continuing process. We're getting better every day, with every practice."

The Sabers beat Radford, 57-54, and Aiea, 39-27, last week and are coming off a bye Wednesday.

"We have some injuries we're dealing with, so the bye was perfect timing for our team to get some guys rest and make some corrections before we play Friday," Tau said.

Campbell has a veteran group that features nine seniors and a balanced scoring offense. Forward Lamart Dudley averages a team-high 10.9 points per game. Not far behind him are guards Michael Merchant (10.6 ppg) and Jomar Jett Gapusan (8.8 ppg).

"They've got five senior starters and four returnees that played huge minutes last year," Wetzel said of the Sabers. "We lost to them three times last year, so they've used to playing against us and obviously present tough matchups. They shoot the ball well, they handle the ball and defend well, so we've definitely got our work cut out for us because that's a team that plays well together. They don't shoot themselves in the foot and they convert their chances."

The Mules, who are coming off a 55-31 win at Waianae Wednesday night, are led by junior guard Joseph Gouty (13.9 points per game), who ranks 10th in the OIA D1 in scoring average. Another junior, forward Koa Kauhi, averages 9.8 points per game.

"I think for us, the whole is more than the sum of its parts," Wetzel said. "We've had six or seven guys lead us in scoring on different occasions. Our point guard, Joseph Gouty, is probably our most consistent scorer, but on different days we've had other guys stepping up and giving us points that maybe we don't expect."

Despite the playoff-seeding implications — and the fact that it will be senior night for the Mules — both coaches said they don't want treat the game any differently than any other.

"We want to take the same approach as if we're playing Waialua or Leilehua," Tau said. "We work hard at practice and these kids just bust their butts. You want to coach the game like any other game. You don't want to overplay it for the kids and get them too excited and forgetting about what we've been doing all year, so we'll have to limit our mistakes and protect all our possessions and get something out of each one."

Wetzel's comments were to the same effect.

"I think in any sport the main competition will always be yourself, so you just want to play as well as you possibly can and if you do those things then the score will take care of itself," Wetzel said. "Obviously it's for first place, senior night and given Campbell's past success against us the kids want to win, as well as the coaching staff, but it's a matter of controlling what you can control."

Both teams have already secured a first-round bye in next week's 12-team league tournament.