Kahuku guard Laselle Thompson drives to the basket against Kaiser. Timothy Ing | SL

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020413_ti_kah_kais130204_178.jpg - Timothy Ing | SL

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Its not how you start, its how you finish.

And coming off of a 2-13 preseason, Kahuku seems poised to make good on that adage.

Led by Lasselle Thompson's 20 points, including 11 in the third quarter alone, the Red Raiders capped off a a 7-4 regular season campaign with a 74-54 win on the road over Kaiser.

And while the final margin of victory might suggest a different story, the game was tightly contested for the first fourteen minutes of play, with Kaiser keeping pace with Kahuku nearly basket for basket.

A trio of triples by Red Raiders guard Kawe Johnson in the first quarter kept the visiting team ahead each time the Cougars would claw their way back, but Leimana Chong-Gum answered with a three-pointer of his own as time expired in the first quarter to knot the score at 13-all.

The two teams exchanged the lead three times in the opening minutes of the second quarter, with Kaiser taking the lead for the last time at the 2:18 mark on a pair of free throws by Chance Kalaugher.

"We stayed with them and if (Kawe) Johnson doesn't hit those three three's in the first quarter we'd be right there," remarked Kaiser head coach Ivan Tamura.

But the Red Raiders took control down the stretch in the second, as Chase Maghanoy hit a three from the left wing and then took a long pass from Johnson on the break for another basket, part of a 10-2 scoring run to close out the period.

Kahuku led 32-25 at halftime.

The Red Raiders picked up right where they left off heading into the third, outscoring the Cougars 17-8, due in large part to a suffocating full-court press that created no less than 7 turnovers in the eight minute span of the quarter alone.

"The first half the legs got warmed up, then in the second half they started showing what we can do." said Kahuku head coach Darren Johnson. "We starting playing more together, good passes, good looks and our big men starting finishing inside."

A key ingredient in the second half both defensively and offensively was the play of Thompson, who finished the second half with 15 points and a game-high total of 20 in the contest.

"He came up with big steals and big finishes," said Johnson of Thompson. "In the past its always been the big men who does the scoring, his brother (Shairone), (Mekeli) Fiso last year, and we're telling him that's the role you have to carry and so he kind of showed some of that tonight."

Post Lamone Williams and Maghanoy contributed 10 points each, and Johnson added 4 more in the second half to finish with 13, as Kahuku got double-digit scoring from four players in the game.

With both teams assured spots in the OIA playoffs starting this Friday, benches were used very liberally in the closing stages, which in particular allowed some extended playing time for the four Cougars' seniors playing their last home game.

Each finished with at least a point on the scoreboard.

"It felt good (to have each senior score). Especially with one of them (Joshua Simao) coming back from a broken wrist." said Tamura.

Despite the slow start, expectations look to be building for the Red Raiders as the "second season" approaches.

"We're just going to come into this (the playoffs) and start a whole new season." said Thompson. "The first season (preseason) wasn't really a good one but we're gelling together so we could have a good run right now."