Kaipo Pale scored a game-high 17 points and J.J. Mariano added 15 points last night as Roosevelt held off visiting Kalani, 54-47, in O'ahu Interscholastic Association boys basketball action.

The Rough Riders improved to 9-2 in the OIA Red Conference Eastern Division heading into tomorrow's showdown with Kahuku (9-2) in the regular season finale, clinching at least a share of the division title. The Falcons fell to 4-7.

In their first-round meeting on Dec. 17, Roosevelt crushed Kalani, 58-32, but the Falcons came out gunning for the upset last night and essentially matched the Rough Riders basket-for-basket for nearly three periods until Roosevelt held them off down the stretch.

"Give Kalani credit, they've gotten a lot better," Rough Riders coach Steve Hathaway said.

The Falcons led, 33-29, after Tatsuya Ono's 3-pointer with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter, but Pale answered with a layup to spark Roosevelt on an 11-4 run heading into the fourth. The Rough Riders then opened the final period with a 6-0 spurt to lead, 46-37, after Brendan Nakatani's two free throws with 4:55 left.

Kalani cut it to 47-43 on a pair of free throws by Ono with 2:15 remaining, but Roosevelt sank seven of eight free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

"They dug in and played better defense in the fourth quarter," Faclons coach Nathan Davis said of the Rough Riders.

That included taking three charging fouls near the basket, including two potential scoring plays for Kalani.

"All three charges were by Brendan -- he's better at that than any player I've ever coached," Hathaway said. "He does a great job of sliding in and getting his body in position, and he's not afraid of the contact. And he gets those charges for us at crucial times."

Roosevelt made 13 of 17 free throw attempts (76.5 percent), including 10 of 12 (83.3 percent) in the fourth period.

Imani Washington led the Falcons with 15 points, and Ono added 13 points.

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