Roosevelt rolls past Moanalua to remain unbeaten

Roosevelt's Devyn Kauhi looks for space to operate between two Moanalua defenders. Sylvia Lee | SL

It wasn't a signature win by any stretch but Roosevelt took care of business Friday night, besting Moanalua (5-3) by a score of 55-42 to improved to 8 wins against no losses in the Oahu Interscholastic Association's East division.

Both teams came out firing offensively in the first quarter, with Alexis Bennett dropping in six points for the home team Riders, and post Lachae McColor scoring eight for Na Menehune, as Roosevelt took a 20-14 lead heading into the second.

Roosevelt's strategy defensively heading into the middle stages of the contest was to try and neutralize McColor, and did so pretty effectively, limiting the 5'8 junior to just 2 shots in the the second and third quarters combined.

"We just put Starr (Rivera) on her (McColor), she played assignment and did really well," remarked Roosevelt post Alexis Bennett. "She just tried to stay in front of her and not let her drive."

The Rough Riders also displayed a knack at applying what seemed like almost constant ball pressure, looking for trapping opportunities at half court and sometimes even in the backcourt, which led to a number of opportunites in transition.

Those opportunities tonight, however, weren't converted nearly enough.

"Turnovers. We had a lot of turnovers this game and we came out with the W, but we told our girls that we need to take care of the basketball." said Roosevelt head coach Hinano Higa. "We work that hard on defense to get the steal, but then we give the ball right back."

Devyn Kauhi certainly did her part in the defense-to-offense conversion department, taking a number of steals back the other way for breakway layups, including a swipe at midcourt that the 5'9 junior dribbled back herself for a layup with just over a minute left in the half to spot Roosevelt a 29-18 margin a the break.

Kauhi scored a team-high 14 points in the game.

When in a half court set, Roosevelt relied pretty heavily on their front line players, with Chelsea Wong and Bennett the recipients of well over a dozen entry passes deep in the post for shots at point-blank range. Wong and Bennett each finished with 10 points in the game.

The superior size and length of Roosevelt also resulted an big advantage on the offensive glass, as Roosevelt steadily built up the advantage to 20 points in the late stages of the fourth.

Moanalua was not content to go down without a fight, and the fourth quarter saw a reemergence of McColor offensively, as she exploded for 10 points in the final stanza from both the low block as well as with the jump shot from mid-range and beyond.

"Awesome athlete," said Higa of McColor who finished with a game-high 21 points. "She knows how to score, knows how to get open."

Next up for Roosevelt is road match up with Kalaheo (3-5), while Moanalua will travel to Castle (1-7). Both games are set for Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

Reach Brien Ing at [email protected].