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Mililani's Nayla Long grabbed a rebound in a wild scramble and scored the winning shot just before time expired to give the Trojans a heart-stopping 56-54 victory over Kaimuki in the opening round of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association's Girls' Division I basketball tournament last night.

The win advances Mililani, which went undefeated in the OIA West regular season, but lost 3 games in the playoffs, to the state quarterfinals against 2nd seed, ILH champion Iolani, which had a bye.

Mililani and Kaimuki had a hard act to follow at Moanalua gymnasium.� In the opener, Waiakea outlasted Roosevelt 56-55 in triple overtime, only the second triple overtime game in the 36-year history of the HHSAA girls' tournament.

But, the game-which had 8 ties, 15 lead changes, the two teams never more than 4 points apart, and some outstanding individual efforts did so, keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats from start to finish.

After Kaimuki's Dejah Fa'asoa sank her team's ninth 3-pointer of the night with 18 seconds to play to tie the score at 54,� Mililani missed a shot and tip-in in the final seconds to set up Long's heroics.

"The rebound went off Ashley's (Kaimuki's Savusa) face" said the jublilant Long.

Long and teammate Kapili Amamalin had hot shooting nights and led Mililani with 21 and 20 points respectively. Working inside for high percentage shots, the Trojans were 22 of 40 (55%) from the field.

Their aggressive play also gave them more free throws in the crucial fourth quarter (7 of 11) than Kaimuki (1 of 3).

In reversing a 2-point defeat to Kaimuki in the OIA playoffs, Mililani had to overcome the loss of starting guard Taylor Babbitt, who was averaging 12.2 points and had made 18 3-pointers.� Babbitt suffered a knee injury with 6:31 left in the second quarter on a play where she scored her only 2 points and did not return. The Trojans made no 3-pointers.

"That is why we practice, so the other girls can step up", said Mililani coach Pat Basilio.� "We figured that only their 3-point shot could kill us"

And Kaimuki, which made 9 of 19 from long range, almost did.� Canny Aikau's 4 treys-all in the second half- accounted for her 12 points. Savusa, who led all scorers with 28 points in another brilliant effort, made a pair and Fa'asoa sank 3, as part of her 14 point total. The trio scored all of the Bulldog's points.

Kaimuki, which shot 20 of 47 (42.6%) from the field ended its season with a 16-3 record.� They were undefeated in the regular season and lost 3 post-season games by a total of 9 points, one in overtime.

Ironically, Mililani which was the OIA's sixth place team had all last week off, whereas Kaimuki, the OIA's second place team, had to play three grueling games. It may have been the difference on the deciding rebound and game winning shot.