McKinley's Kayla Rasavanh scored 10 points and hit two key free throws to propel the Tigers to a win over University Lab. CJ Caraang | SL

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Fri, Nov 27, 2015 @ McKinley

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McKinley

44

University Lab

43

Final	1	2	3	4
McKinley (6-7, 7-11)	7	16	14	7	44
University Lab (7-9, 7-11)	3	12	13	15	43

K. Young 19 pts  2 3pm  9/13 FTs

K. Rasavanh 10 pts  1 3pm  3/4 FTs

Kayla Rasavanh and Teane Sofa each scored 10 points and McKinley held off a strong finish by University Lab in a 44-43 win at the host McKinley Girls Basketball Classic at the Student Council Gymnasium

The Tigers (4-0), who labored at the free-throw line with 12-of-20 shooting, saw Rasavanh make two free throws with 49 seconds left to snap a 42-all game after UHS chipped away after trailing by as many as 10 midway through the third quarter.

Kyra Young led all scorers with 19 points, including two 3-pointers, for ULS, while Karley Ann Yoshioka followed with 13.

University outscored McKinley, 15-7, in the fourth period.

"We were getting frustrated because we felt like we weren't getting the calls," McKinley coach Donald Kamai said. "But we put it together…in the last minute-30 (seconds) or so, both teams came up with big plays. Ane (Teane Sofa) came up with a big 3. Our free throws killed us again."

After McKinley's Suzie Park missed the front-end of a one-and-one with 13.8 seconds left in the game, Tioledoauli Posiulai grabbed the rebound and passed to Yoshioka, who missed a potential go-ahead layup with three seconds left.

McKinley controlled most of the game until the Jr. Rainbows used an 8-0 run, capped by Young's two free throws with 3:12 left to tie the game at 39.

University grabbed its first lead of the game with 1:38 when 5-foot-9 center Posiulai took an inbounds pass from Yoshioka under her basket and banked in the easy shot to make it 41-39. But that lead was short-lived as Sofa drained a 3-pointer to put the Tigers back up again, 42-41 with 1:20 left.

University tied the game at 42 with 1:05 when Young made one of two free throws.

Rasavanh was fouled by with 49 seconds and made the deciding two free throws to put McKinley ahead, 44-42. 

Young tried to tie the game with a dribble-drive to the hoop, but was fouled and only made one of her two free throws as McKinley held a 44-43 lead.

McKinley squandered two one-and-one opportunities to open the margin, but successfully defended Yoshioka from making the potential go-ahead layup.

University has six returnees, but also is breaking four new players.

"We kept everything really vanilla," ULS coach Ken Kitamura said. "I knew it was going to look ugly tonight, but it's all part of the learning process.

"I'm much happier with how we finished the game than how we came out of the gates."