Douglas Mitchell and the Seariders take a drive up California Avenue to take on Liam Fitzgerald and the Mules in an OIA West battle. ScoringLive photo illustration

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It's been quite some time since the Leilehua boys basketball team has dropped a regular season game.

One-thousand sixty-two days, to be exact.

Leilehua will put that streak on the line Friday when it hosts Waianae in a key Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division game.

Despite having won the division in each of the past two years, Mules second-year coach Russ Fitzgerald said he doesn't see his team as the frontrunner in what is shaping up to be a wild, wild West.

"Talking to a couple of other coaches, I think that Waianae, Kapolei, probably Mililani and Pearl City are the four teams to beat in the West," Fitzgerald said. "We don't want to look down the road at all because everybody can beat everybody, so we've got to bring our best every night. This game is an opportunity for us to see where we measure against one of the better teams in the West."

The Mules, whose last league loss came on Feb. 1, 2014 against Mililani, are coming off a 13-point win at Radford Wednesday night despite being without two starters. Another starter — junior Liam Fitzgerald, the coach's son — scored 10 points with nine rebounds and nine assists despite dealing an emergency room trip after being poked in the eye in practice Tuesday.

"He kind of looked like Rocky Balboa with his eye basically swollen shut," Russ Fitzgerald said. "I think, when Liam is healthy, that he's the best all-around player in the OIA. He's maybe not the best shooter, maybe not the best ball-handler, but all-around I think he can play with anyone."

Liam Fitzgerald's best scoring effort came in what was his team's best win — a 52-48 win over Kamehameha on day two of the OIA-ILH Challenge on Dec. 9. Fitzgerald hit six 3-pointers and poured in a game-high 25 points in the win.

Russ Fitzgerald is banking on the Mules' rigorous preseason schedule to pay dividends down the line.

"We always play a really tough preseason schedule," he said. "This year we played Kamehameha, Iolani, Punahou, Saint Louis and Lahainaluna, so we've played five or six of the top 10 teams in the state in the preseason."

Against the Rams Wednesday night, Leilehua got a season-high 26 points from senior forward Trey Boatwright.

"It's kind of a reflection of how far we've gone since the start of our preseason," Russ Fitzgerald said. "In our very first tournament game against Lahainaluna we were just a turnover machine. It was like one after the other, but our guards have really grown since then. I think the confidence has grown with these guys. They've gotten better with every single game."

The Seariders, meanwhile, are coming off a 38-31 home loss against Campbell Wednesday.

"We've got to rebound and bounce back to keep up with the pack," Waianae 11th-year coach John Simbahon said.

"I actually think (Wednesday) night we played good," Simbahon said. "We lost the game — we should have won, we were ahead — but they made adjustments in the second half and we didn't do a good job adjusting. They shut us down; we scored 10 points in the second half. They hit seven 3's as a team. We were in their faces, but they just made their shots, but I think our guys are coming around."

The Seariders will look to 6-foot-3 senior forward Douglas Mitchell to carry the load this season.

"We've got to get Doug to shoot a little more," Simbahon said. "He's touching the ball a lot, but he's trying to distribute and get everybody involved and be a team player — which we wanted him to do — but right now, we just have to let him and go and shoot more."

Mitchell scored 24 points in Waianae's 49-39 win over Pearl City to open OIA West play on Dec. 23.

Liam Fitzgerald will draw the defensive assignment of covering Mitchell, his father said.

"Mitchell is a load, so we'll get a chance to see how good Liam is because he'll get Mitchell when we're in man (defense)," Russ Fitzgerald said.

Tip-off between the Seariders (1-1) and Mules (2-0) is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Leilehua's Paul T. Kobayashi Gymnasium.