Micah Kawano scored 16 points to help the Falcons win their OIA East season opener at the Rough Riders' gym. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Dec 23, 2016 @ Roosevelt

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Kalani

38

Roosevelt

29

Final	1	2	3	4
Kalani (5-6, 16-11)	13	12	3	10	38
Roosevelt (3-8, 8-13)	0	13	10	6	29

J. Talbo 9 pts  1/2 FTs

M. Kawano 16 pts  8/10 FTs

MAKIKI – Kalani picked up where it left off last season to beat host Roosevelt, 38-29, Friday night in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division boys' basketball season opener.

Micah Kawano and Kapaa Nishimura combined for more than two-thirds of the Falcons' scoring, combining for 26 points. Kawano had a game-high 16, 13 coming in the first half, and Nishimura added 10.

The teams closed the 2016-16 season in the consolation final of the Division II state tournament that Kalani won, 47-31.

Meanwhile, it was a rough night for the Rough Riders, who were scoreless in the first quarter. Roosevelt finally lit up its side of the scoreboard in the second quarter on Jason Talbo's free throw with 6:58. About a minute later, he scored his team's first field goal, but Kalani had already amassed a 15-3 lead.

It took the Riders about 20 seconds into the second half to score and outscored the Falcons, 10-3, in the third period to pull to 28-23 before the fourth. But the first-period damage was too much for the Riders to overcome, as the Falcons worked the ball around, killing precious seconds from the Rough Riders, for higher-percentage shots. Roosevelt had no choice but to eventually foul, but Kalani made 6 its last 11 free throws to keep Roosevelt in a deficit.

"We just didn't come to play,' Roosevelt coach Steve Hathaway said. "I don't want to take anything away from Kalani, but they didn't beat us. We beat ourselves...The rest of the game, I told them all you had to do was score five points in the first quarter and we would've been even in the fourth."

Both team each were without two key starters, so that was a wash as far as advantage. But the Falcons played a more disciplined game.

"Something about our team is we're not supposed to have in the first four minutes is no 3-point (shots)," Kawano said. "We're just supposed to get to the rim. I think we did that well today."

It was just the opposite for the Rough Riders.

"We had guys just settling for 17-to-19 footers," Hathaway said. "I don't know what was going on with that. Our team sometimes does that and (I) tell them get out of that funk. That's what we just talked about. These guys have all the talent in the world to easily beat any team in the East. Sometimes the mental part is not there for us."

Helping the Riders' close their deficit was Shastyn Kekahuna, who came off the bench with six points, three rebounds and a steal despite still recovering from a knee injury.

"He's been out the last two weeks," Hathaway said. "He just got back Wednesday, so he's got to get his legs back. That's the thing, I was just telling them to push Shastyn up, they can't stop him."

The Riders were without their two bigs, 6-1 Lio Ilalio and 6-2 Christopher Lee and the Falcons exploited their absence.

"That was really big for them," Kalani coach Nathan Davis said. "That's their inside presence. We tried to take advantage of that, going inside."

The Falcons were missing 5-10 Toby Mitchell (leg) and 6-0 Jamie Harris (missed a practice), but Davis was pleased overall.

"We were missing some guys, too, so when we get to full strength, I'm excited about our potential," Davis said. "But we played within ourselves today and stuck to our strengths and executed."

Life was just the opposite for Hathaway.

"(The Falcons) did what they had to do to win," Hathaway said. "I don't want to take anything away from them, but to me, the whole loss was more on us…I know we're missing guys inside, but that's not an excuse; we're trying to work in different guys. It can mess up the chemistry because we're used to certain guys in the post, but it's just an excuse. Next guy has to step up."

The Falcons host Castle and the Rough Riders will visit Kaimuki on Wednesday.