Leilehua's Tywanna Abbott puts up a shot against Roosevelt. Abbott led the Mules with 10 points in a win over the Rough Riders to win the OIA Division I title. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Sat, Feb 6, 2016 @ Radford

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Leilehua

32

Roosevelt

31

F/OT	1	2	3	4	OT
Leilehua (12-2, 16-6)	12	6	4	6	4	32
Roosevelt (12-1, 14-5)	8	12	2	6	3	31

A. Gabriel 14 pts  1 3pm  1/1 FTs

T. Abbott 10 pts  2/2 FTs

HALAWA – Unheralded, unranked and undeterred.

In a tenacious battle from start to finish, Leilehua upset No. 6 Roosevelt, 32-31, in overtime to capture the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I girls' basketball crown Saturday night.

The Mules (12-2) won their first title since 2013. Like that season, the Mules were not a top seed, as they were the West's second seed. This time, the Mules were their division's third seed. They knocked off West champion Radford on Wednesday to advance to play the East champions.

"We were nowhere in the top 10," Leilehua coach Elroy Dumlao said. "We came up and snuck'em. I told them we were going to make history not from winning the championship, but being the first to win the OIA without being in the top 10."

ScoringLive did not have rankings the last time the Mules won in 2013, but that is true for the previous two seasons.

It was the fourth overtime in an OIA title game and the Mules were involved in the previous one when they beat Mililani, 58-55, in 2013.

Tianna Hanohano scored the go-ahead basket on a layup with about 15 seconds left then grabbed a crucial rebound after a missed free throw and fell to the court and time was called.

"That was the biggest rebound she ever had in her life," Dumlao said. "I was ready to clear everybody out and play some D, but she said she wanted to be in there."

"I told coach, ‘I wanted this rebound,'" Hanohano said. "We'll get it. We want it. I got the rebound. We needed to win this game."

Tywanna Abbott, though, was fouled shortly after taking the inbounds pass from Hanohano with 4.8 seconds left. Abbott missed the bonus free throw, but Hanohano got the offensive rebound, but in the struggle after, the ball was turned over to Roosevelt with seven-tenths of a second left and the Rough Riders called a timeout. When play resumed from the backcourt, Ashley Kiko inbounded the ball to Keala Quinlan, who managed to dribble past the half-court line before launching a 40-footer that missed at the buzzer bringing the game to a gut-wrenching end.

The game was tied at 22 entering the fourth period before the Rough Riders opened up a 28-24 lead after steals by Quinlan and Kiko. Hanohano made one of two free throws with 4:49 left to make it 28-25 and it stayed that way for the next four minutes. During that span, Roosevelt turned over the ball three times, but failed to score. With 33 seconds left, Hanohano came up with a steal against Quinlan and the Mules called time. When play resumed, Shaylee Todani dropped a 3-pointer to tie the game at 28 with 25 seconds left. But with 3:38 left, Chyel Palmer, who had six points and seven rebounds, fouled out, taking a crucial player out of the Mules' mix. Her replacement, Hannah Coffin, did come up with several rebounds to help the cause.

The Rough Riders had a shot blocked in the closing seconds of regulation and Leilehua got the rebound, but Kalen Kamelamela's half-court shot missed, leading into overtime.

The Mules scored first on Kaylen Kamelamela's first basket of the game with 2:18 left. But with 31 seconds left, Quinlan took a side and then back step from the right wing and drained a 3 to put the Rough Riders ahead, 31-30. The Mules moved the ball up court and called time with 19 seconds left and set up Hanohano's go-ahead layup with 15 seconds left.

Seven seconds later, Kiko was fouled, but missed both free throws with Hanohano coming down with the rebound. She was fouled, but it was only Roosevelt's sixth of the half. Abbott was fouled on the ensuing inbounds, but missed her bonus free throw with 4.8 seconds. Although Hanohano, again, came down with the rebound, a simultaneous possession ensued in Roosevelt's favor with seven-tenths of a second, but the Riders' comeback fell short on Quinlan's missed 3.

The game was tight from the start, though Leilehua pulled ahead 7-2 early, the Rough Riders took the lead, 8-8 with 2:48 left in the first before the Mules ended the quarter with a 5-0 run, including Todani's first 3-pointer of the game to give Leilehua a 12-8 lead.

The second quarter was just as tight, but Alliya Gabriel's basket with 44 seconds left gave Roosevelt a 20-18 lead at the half.

The Mules did not allow the Rough Riders a field goal until 1:14 left in the third to take a 22-20 lead, but Abbott's putback with 30 seconds left tied the game at 22 entering the fourth period.

Abbott led the Mules with 10 points, while Roosevelt's Gabriel led all with 14.

At the end, it was Hanohano, who scored a modest seven points, who came up big.

"She has a lot of length," Roosevelt coach Hinano Higa said. "She's tall. We tried to take her away, but she just got the ball at the right time."

It was a tough loss for the Rough Riders, who needed double OT to beat Farrington in Wednesday's semifinals.

"But hat's off to Elroy and his program," a gracious Higa said. "They came out hungry to play and they just got the better of us."