Radford's Kyle Johnson puts up a shot against Mililani. Johnson scored the go-ahead basket with 11 seconds in regulation to win it for the Rams. CJ Caraang | SL

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Wed, Dec 30, 2015 @ Radford

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Mililani

28

Radford

29

Final	1	2	3	4
Mililani (10-3, 13-7)	7	9	5	7	28
Radford (12-1, 14-7)	8	2	5	14	29

S. Harris 9 pts  3 3pm

K. Torres 14 pts  2 3pm

HALAWA – Kyle Johnson's basket with 11 seconds left capped a 7-0 run in the final two minutes, 12 seconds to rally Radford past Mililani, 29-28, Wednesday night at the Jim Alegre Gymnasium.

Mililani's Jazmina Lafitaga's 3-point try from the left wing missed at the buzzer and put the Rams (5-0) in sole possession of first place in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I West in game that pitted two unbeaten teams. The Trojans (4-1) saw their 21-10 third-quarter lead dissipate slowly to the relentless Rams.

The Trojans' Kayla Torres led all scorers with 14 points, including two 3-pointers. Sophia Harris led the Rams with a modest nine points, all from three 3-pointers, two in the second half when they outscored the Trojans, 19-12.

It was a tough loss for the Trojans, who had outplayed the Rams for 2 ½ quarters.

"We were doing a pretty good job of limiting (the Rams) to one shot," said Trojans' assistant Francis Dagan, who was serving for head coach Pat Basilio, who was on a family trip. "We knew they had the height advantage on us. We did a pretty good job in the first half of boxing out, limiting them to one shot. Toward the end, they had multiple opportunities to the basket and you cannot do that to team like that."

The Rams labored against the Trojans in the first half. Radford pulled to within 13-10 with 1:24 in the second period. The Trojans later turned over the ball on a traveling violation with 22 seconds left, only Trojans' guard Velisa Meleisea's steal set up Torres' 3-pointer at the buzzer that increased Mililani's lead to 16-10 at the break.

"That's what we've been struggling with the whole season," Chong said. "It was a big game. The girls were playing tentative and Mililani's a great program. They're very methodical, very patient and they pick you apart and that's what we were letting them happen. The nice thing about tonight is that we bounced back, crawled back into the game and gave ourselves a chance to win. We kind of stole one tonight. Mililani played a great game and things bounced our way a little bit, Kyle makes that last-second shot to give us the lead and anything could happen and that's what happened."

Radford's woes continued at the start of the third period when it turned over the ball on two charging fouls and a steal by Lafitaga. Kelena Gibson contributed four points in the Trojans' 5-0 run that gave them a 21-10 lead midway through the quarter.

But the Rams slowly chipped away. Shaelie Burgess made two free throws with 3:02 left in the third and Harris buried her first 3-pointer in the second half to pulled the Rams to 21-15 to start the fourth quarter.

The Trojans eventually worked their way to a 26-22 lead with 2:36 when Meleisea made one of two free throws. Shortly after, Natalie Jackson who had five of her eight points in the second half, left the game with an apparent ankle injury, taking away one of the Rams' better shooters.

"For a freshman, she's tall (5-foot-8) and she's fundamental and she's very steady," Chong said of losing Jackson during the crucial closing stretch. "Sometimes, we get a little crazy and when she's on the floor, she calms things down. She plays with a lot of control. So when she went out, that was one less scoring opportunity, a possible scorer. I told the girls, the best thing they did in the last 30 seconds when the play (for the game-winning shot) didn't work and they patiently waited for Kyle to get a post shot instead of throwing the ball away. They showed a lot of poise."

After Jackson left, Harris' second 3-pointer of the half ignited the Rams' 7-0 run.

"We were kind of giving them that, have them beat us on the inside," Dagan said of the 3-pointers. "But came down to the end, they beat us on the inside. Kind of backfired on us.

"We just told the girls give yourself the opportunity to win at the end. We had that, but didn't finish. They played hard, though."

Following Harris' trey, the Trojans had a shot blocked by the 5-8 Johnson to send the ball back Radford's way. The Rams' ensuing shot missed and the ubiquitous Johnson got the offensive rebound and was fouled in the process, sending her to the free-throw line with 1:30. She made both her free throws to give the Rams a momentary lead at 27-26.

The Rams had an opportunity to tie and regain the lead with 49 seconds left, but Puni Seei missed the front end of a one-and-one. Taysia Canon got the rebound for the Trojans, who then took the lead back, 28-27, with 36 seconds left on Meleisea's turn-around jumper.

The Rams called time with 24 seconds left to set up Johnson's inside shot to the hoop.

It's only halfway into the season for the Rams, who still have dates with Leilehua (4-1), Campbell (3-1) and Kapolei (2-3) and two more with Division II West teams (Waialua and Waipahu).