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Former Roosevelt girls basketball coach Hinano Higa knows as well as anyone that you can't coach depth. And that's precisely what made her 2013-2014 Rough Riders squad such a special team.

Roosevelt's depth was put to the test on Jan. 9, 2014, in its penultimate regular-season game at Moanalua in a meeting of unbeaten teams.

The Rough Riders were the No. 4 team in the ScoringLive Power Rankings, while Na Menehune were ranked ninth. Both teams brought unblemished 8-0 records in OIA Eastern Division play into the Thursday night showdown in Salt Lake.

Higa, who headed the program for six seasons from 2009 until 2016, had just one day of practice to prepare her team for Moanalua after an 18-point win over Castle on Tuesday of that week.

"Our girls were resilient and they played every game like it was their last game," Higa said. "They went all out for each other and leading up to this game they continued to have that same mentality and enjoyed the process along the way. We knew Moanalua was undefeated as well and they had some great players in their program so we tried to do what we do and also key in on limiting them on some of what they do best."

While Na Menehune featured one of the league's top scorers in senior wing LaChae McColor — whose scoring average of 18.1 points per game ranked second in the OIA Division I (then called the Red Division) — the Rough Riders featured more of a balanced attack offensively.

Roosevelt's leading scorer, sophomore forward Keala Quinlan, averaged a team-high 13.9 points per contest, while junior guard Starr Rivera chipped 12 points a game. Along with junior guard Sharice Kawakami (9.9 ppg), senior forward Tavae Sina Sofa (8.8 ppg) and senior guard Devyn Kauhi (8.7 ppg), opponents often were forced to pick their poison.

"The depth of our team was quite special, where we had kids that could play every position. It was a special team. We were a well-rounded team that on any given day, any person could step up and lead us," Higa recalled. "We had skilled players that could fill in out of position, if needed, and not only fill in, but could execute as well."

The Rough Riders got off to a hot start against Moanalua with a 24-point first quarter.

"It's always a plus to have a great start to the game, which gives our team the edge. Our girls came out running on both ends of the floor, which led to a first-half lead," Higa said.

They held a 16-point lead going into the second stanza. However, Quinlan picked up two early fouls in the first quarter and was forced to watch much of the first half from the bench.

"Keala was definitely a big factor on our team, just with her ability of being a big player that can shoot the 3 — rise above the defender and shoot — plus she had a nose for the ball and defended well with her length," Higa said of Quinlan's value to the team.

With the 5-foot-11 Quinlan nursing foul trouble, Higa adjusted by moving Kauhi from her normal guard position into the post.

"I recall Keala getting into foul trouble early, but we had other players that could fill in and chip in," she said. "Devyn, for example, was a guard for us, a runner, tall, lanky player, but with her height we needed that defender in the paint and on the defensive end she was able to fill that void for Keala."

Higa explained that at that juncture of the season — one week until the start of the playoffs — the team had been practicing with such situations in mind.

"Leading into that game we worked on those things, different scenarios, who could step in where, who do we slide into what spots," Higa said. "We'd always like to have Keala on the court with us, but this just gave us some experience that if it does happen again, we'll have other players that are able to fill that void."

But Higa said she didn't want Kauhi to alter too much of her game — or any of it, actually.

"For Devyn, the mindset for her was to do the same things that you do as a guard, but just taking it to another position on the court and that game she came up big for us; she made big shots, she grabbed rebounds, she got blocks, got a couple steals as well," Higa noted.

That flexibility in personnel that Higa was able to enjoy was only possibly because of the maturity — and coach-ability, if you will — of her players.

"We did have our captains, but these girls, they did a lot together off the court to just start that bond with each other. They were a really close-knit team," Higa said. "On the court this team communicated really well with each other and the response they got from each other was a lot of motivation and encouragement. They did get on each other at times, but they picked each other up and I think because they all had that mentality that they want to win, just to lay it all out there, so they constantly just looked to each other for support."

Higa said that ultimately, the biggest motivating factor for the players on that team was one another.

"I think the biggest thing that came to mind was having each other show up every day, whether it's just physically being there, mentally being there, at practice, game time, knowing what to expect from each other," Higa said. "These kids came into the gym before practice real lax, they'd have fun with each other, they would crack jokes, lay around, but as it got closer to practice time they were in-gear and ready to go and the mind frame switches in practice to ‘let's get done what we need to do and then we move on from there.' "

Back to that Moanalua game.

Roosevelt built upon its first-half lead with a 13-3 run that was capped by a Kawakami putback that gave her team a 26-8 lead with 5:41 left in the second quarter.

The Rough Riders held a 34-16 lead at the intermission.

"We had the lead but we were telling our kids not to be satisfied or comfortable and to continue to go out there and play hard," Higa recalled. "I think Moanalua did a great job of trying to stop our running game and we didn't shoot as well as we did in the first half. Moanalua out-rebounded us in the second half and limited us to one possession to score. On our end it got sloppy on defense and we just took too many breaks, which allowed Moanalua to make a come back."

Roosevelt twice led by as many as 19 points, the last time coming late in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by junior forward Kaohi Kapiko, another key contributor off the bench, Higa noted.

"Kaohi brought that energy that we needed off the bench and would be big for us. She's another player that's not tall at all — she's maybe 5-4 — but just the attitude she had, she gave us that grit on the floor and she did what she had to do to help our team succeed and at times she would fill Keala's position as well, so she had to do the little things to make up for her height and it came out big for us," Higa detailed.

The Rough Rider lead was still commanding after three quarters, at 50-35, but McColor and Na Menehune got it going in the fourth.

McColor and post Hoku Mateo scored all of the Moanalua points in a 14-5 run that cut the Roosevelt lead to 55-45 midway through the fourth quarter. Point guard Cierra O'Brien hit a free throw with 1:02 to play to make it a nine-point game, but it was as close as the Menes would get.

Kawakami finished with a team-high 14 points with three steals, two rebounds and an assist. Kauhi tallied what was then a season-high 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and added six rebounds, six steals and two blocks. Sina Sofa had 11 points, three assists, a rebound, one steal and a block and Rivera added 10 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists. Kapiko chipped in seven points and two assists, while Quinlan was held a season-low four points with one board, an assist and a block.

"Our guards, Reesey (Kawakami) and Starr pushed tempo for us early in the game, which led to breakaway buckets and opened up the game for us, but Moanalua came back strong in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter," Higa said.

McColor still managed to score a game-high 21 points, but tallied a good chunk of those points at the free-throw line, where she shot 10 of 14. As a team, Moanalua shot 15 of 24 from the charity stripe and 17 of 45 (37.8 percent) from the field. Mateo recorded a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds and O'Brien added seven points, three assists and a steal in the loss.

"From the start of the game we defended baseline to baseline with our scrappy guards up front," Higa said of the defensive game plan against the Menes. "We knew LaChae was one of their key players and with her athleticism she knew how to score, she could handle the ball well, she crashed the boards and so we played assignment defense on her. We used several players and would switch off defending her from even touching the ball, but she still had a big second half, which is a big credit to their team. I remember they had (O'Brien) and she was great skill as their key ball handler so we tried to contain her and just keep her in front as well."

The Rough Riders shot 24 of 58 (41.4 percent) from the field, but were just 6 of 17 on free throws.

Moanalua won the rebounding battle, 28 to 24, but turned it over 22 times to Roosevelt's 12 turnovers.

With the win, Roosevelt improved to 9-0 and clinched the Red East top seed in the 12-team OIA Tournament. In fact, by that point in the season, the team had not lost a game in nearly two months, since mid-November.

Back at the Kaiser Tournament, the Rough Riders were handed a 69-57 loss by Punahou — which eventually went on to win the Division I state championship in February — and the very next day lost to Konawaena, 57-54. Higa said that those losses in the preseason served as a measuring stick for her squad.

"That really gave us a good perspective on where we stood at the beginning of our season and from then on it motivated the girls to work from there and to keep progressing in every game or in the different aspects that we needed to work on," Higa said.

After completing an undefeated regular season with a 70-40 win over Kalani in its OIA East finale, Roosevelt reeled off wins over Kahuku (61-22), Kailua (71-48) and Mililani (62-44) in the league tournament en route to its first OIA title since 2007.

"It was definitely a great feeling of accomplishment for our girls. They put in the work not only that season, but for some of them in previous years, too," said Higa, who was voted as OIA East Coach of the Year that season.

Quinlan was selected to the All-OIA East First Team, while Kawakami garnered second team honors. Quinlan earned All-Hawaii Second Team recognition, while Kawakami, Rivera and Kauhi received honorable mention.

But just 10 days after the high point of the season — when it laid claim to its first league crown in seven years — came the abrupt end to the year for Roosevelt with a heartbreaking 62-61 loss to Hilo in the quarterfinal round of the state tournament.

"That game, for myself, always ponders in my head and I'm sure my girls as well," Higa lamented. "I could go on and on about that game, but I think we had a great year with a special group of girls. With only two seniors on that team, I think the experience taken from that season will always resonate with you and motivate you in ways that you can't imagine."

That season the Division I girls basketball tournament was among the state tournaments that utilized a pilot format that played out over two weekends. With no consolation-bracket games outside of the third-place final, that translated to a one-and-done deal for the Rough Riders.

"You know, losing by one (point), your last game is in the quarterfinals, it sticks in your head and you don't want that to happen again, so it'll always stay with you, but it will motivate you to not let it happen that next time, or to not let it get to that point," Higa said.

But that motivation went a way long for Higa's squad the following season, when it completed another perfect regular season and successfully defended its OIA title. Roosevelt went on to finish fourth in the state tournament that year, its' highest finish in the D1 tourney since 2006, when it lost to Punahou in the championship game.

Higa stepped down from her post after the 2015-2016 season, but continues to coach with her 808 Basketball Club — although they have been among the many organizations largely shut down due to COVID restrictions.

"With these COVID times, I just miss coaching in general," Higa said when asked if she missed coaching high school basketball.

"My years coaching high school ball at Roosevelt were some of my best times and some of the most memorable times. I miss the excitement of walking into the gym and having the opportunity to teach our girls not only about basketball, but life skills as well and to see their progression over the season, or over the years was always rewarding," said Higa, a preschool teacher.

Higa offered a message of hope for Hawaii's student-athletes affected by the ongoing pandemic, especially those seniors.

"My heart aches for them. I would say take some time to reflect on these times, but don't let it stop you from reaching your goals," she said. "I commend all the student-athletes that continue to train and put work in every day. I mean, it's not easy, but sitting around won't get you anywhere, so just have a strong mindset and continue to work and be positive and opportunities will arise for you."