Roselyn Shimaoka scored 16 points to help the Cougars outlast in the first round of the Division I state tournament. Steve Erler | SL

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Roselyn Shimaoka scored 16 points to help the Cougars outlast in the first round of the Division I state tournament. Steve Erler | SL

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SALT LAKE — A mid-game adjustment helped Kaiser fend off KS-Maui, 44-41 in the first round of the OC16/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Girls Basketball Championships at Moanalua Gymnasium Tuesday night. 

Roselyn Shimaoka scored 16 points and Skylar Kimura hit a pair of timely jumpers to help the Cougars advance to play fourth-seeded Leilehua on Wednesday at 5 p.m. 

After getting torched by Rebeka Revelle's three first quarter treys, the Cougars switched from a zone to a man-to-man defense. This helped Kaiser take a 23-20 halftime lead on KS-Maui, who was making its first ever appearance in the state tournament.

"Our bread and butter is a man-to-man, but our bench is real short so I just tried to play the zone to keep it close," said Kaiser coach Simon Biting. "They hit a whole lot of 3s though. No. 14 (Revelle) shot lights out tonight, unreal. I took her a way with the man-to-man on the ball pressure and I seen that we were pretty successful so I stayed with it."

The Cougars pressure definitely hampered the visitors from the Maui Interscholastic League as the Warriors committed 25 turnovers in the contest.

"That full court man defense kind of messed with us a bit," said KS-Maui coach Victor Aguirre. "The one advantage I told the girls in the huddle was we played (MIL champion) Lahainaluna four times this year. They have the best press in the state. If we can handle their press then we should have handled this press, but we didn't. That change by coach (Biting) messed us up so I give them all the credit." 

However, a big third quarter swing helped the Warriors lead by as many as six points in the period. The defensive prowess of sophomore 5-foot-11 forward Kimani Fernandez-Roy (two steals, five blocks) helped KS-Maui keep the Cougars at bay.

"Give it up to that girl, she should go volleyball I think," Bitanga said on Fernandez-Roy.

Kimura nailed a 3-pointer before the end of the period to cut the Warriors' lead to three, 35-32, heading into the fourth quarter. She also had a jumper to give the Cougars the lead for good, 40-39 with a little over two minutes left in regulation. 

"Skylar is going to be one of our girls that's going to come through at the end," said Bitanga. "We're going to run our offense to everybody and whoever is hot I'm giving them the green light."

Although Kaiser could not close it out at the free throw line (8 of 26), the Warriors repetitively turned it over in the final minutes and did not get another basket until there were less than 20 seconds left in regulation.

Bitanga said his team will have to be a lot better at the line if they want to knock off the Mules. Leilehua defeated Kaiser on the road in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I quarterfinals before going on to win the league crown. 

"Make free throws, that's what we need to do," said Bitanga. "That's how we lost the last time to them."

Revelle had a game-high 19 points with five 3-pointers made and six steals to lead the Warriors in the loss.