Kalani's Brenna Beall goes after a loose ball against Castle. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Castle's Shaney Tiumalu takes the ball to the basket against Kalani. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kalani guard Carly Kakuda puts up a shot over Castle Saesha Tilton. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Tue, Jan 15, 2013 @ Kalani

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Castle

40

Kalani

49

Final	1	2	3	4
Castle (1-10, 1-10)	12	7	12	9	40
Kalani (4-8, 4-8)	9	22	8	10	49

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

C. Kakuda 24 pts  2 3pm  10/13 FTs

S. Tiumalu 16 pts  4/6 FTs

B. Beall 7 tot

S. Tiumalu 13 tot

S. Shizuru 3 ast

S. Tiumalu 3 ast

Faced with a must-win situation to make the playoffs on Senior Night, it was junior guard Carly Kakuda who came up huge, scoring 13 points in a pivotal second period and a game-high 24 overall, to lead Kalani to a 49-40 victory over Castle.

"Throughout the season she's been stepping up." said head coach Hina Kimetete. "Her fire, through her performance, you can tell how badly she wants it (to win)."

Kakuda came off the bench tonight midway through the first quarter, and like her team as whole, started off slowly but eventually got on track early in the second quarter. In particular, she seemed to get herself on track at the free throw line, knocking down 6-of-9 attempts in the quarter.

Her success at the line seemed to boost her confidence, as she proceeded to knock down a long two-pointer, followed a few possessions later by a three from nearly the same spot on the court, part of a 22-7 scoring advantage in the second quarter.

"We kept shooting outside and since everything was falling everyone was getting the momentum that we needed." said Kakuda.

Kalani led 31-19 at halftime.

Castle used superior height and size to keep themselves in the contest, and Ella Tiumalu's runner banked in at 1:23 mark in the third quarter to trim the margin to just 8.

But foul trouble would limit the Knights' on both ends of the floor, as the speedier Lady Falcons' players continued to pressure on defense and push the tempo on offense. Two players would foul out for the Knights, and another would be saddled with four fouls, a difficult position for a team with only six suited up for the game.

What Kalani lacked in rebounding (Castle outrebounded Kalani 35-19), they made up for in the turnover department, creating 14 steals to Castle's 5. The clearly shorter Falcons' squad suprisingly registered more blocks than the Knights with four in the game, including one by Kakuda.

Both teams cooled off in the second half, most notably the Falcons, who managed to hit only 4-of-15 shots in the third and just 2-of-12 in the fourth. The Knights did not fare much better, shooting just 7-of-20.

Ella Tiumalu scored 10 points after the intermission, including a layup plus the foul with 24.4 left in regulation and could have trimmed the lead to 6 with the bonus, but missed the free throw.

Kalani's Alex Salas was fouled on the ensuing possession and knocked down both attempts from the charity stripe to shut the door on any comeback.

Falcons' post Brenna Beall held her own against Castle bigs, registering 7 points and 7 rebounds, while Salas added 4 points, 2 rebounds and a block.

"I spoke to Brenna and Alex our two bigs and told them this is your senior year." said Kimetete. "Do you want this to be your last home game or your last game. And they stepped up big for us."

Ella Tiumalu recorded a double-double, with 16 points and 13 rebounds, and teammate Qiara Puuauli-Puahi and Saesha Tilton combined for 8 points and 16 rebounds.

The victory for Kalani, coupled with Farrington 62-47 loss to Kaiser,  assured the Lady Falcons of a slot into next week's OIA Red playoffs, much to the delight of their first year coach.

"I'm so relieved. Definitely not for myself, but for the girls." she added. "They wanted it. From summertime, that was their biggest thing, to advance higher than what they did last year in playoffs, and they're one step closer."