Roosevelt's Ashley Kiko scored a game-high 18 points in the Rough Riders' win over Farrington. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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MAKIKI – Guards Ashley Kiko and Haven Gabriel combined for 29 points – 10 off of steals – and No. 9 Roosevelt beat visiting Farrington, 54-48, to gain sole possession of first place in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I East Wednesday night.

The Rough Riders (5-0) trailed 27-26 at the half before using a 6-0 run to end the third period then kept the Governors (4-1) at bay the rest of the game.

"It's always a big game when you have two teams that are undefeated coming into matching up against each other," Roosevelt coach Hinano Higa said. "Farrington's always known as one of the bigger teams and they played hard…even their guards are big, so they're a dominant force physically. We tried our best to match up with it not play the same physical game."

The Governors were hampered by turnovers in the second half that aided the Rough Riders overcome their halftime deficit.

"We made too many errors, too many turnovers," Farrington coach Caroline Tatupu said. "Roosevelt is one of those teams that will convert those turnovers. Our defense wasn't up to par as we hoped. I think we played pretty good defense first half, second half we didn't play as well as we'd like to."

Kiko led all scorers with 18 points, including two 3-pointers and scored off three of her five steals, while Gabriel added 11 points, including three 3-pointers and scored off of two thefts. Gabriel could have had a scored off her third steal, but she missed a layup, only to watch Kiko come up with the offensive board and get fouled in the process. Kiko made both free throws that made it 54-46 with 1:10 left in the game.

Chantal Mailou led Farrington with 16 points, including two 3-pointers, while Shayla Cabato-Machado and Molimau Heimuli each contributed 10 points.

On a night when Farrington's 5-foot-5 Brittaney Savusa 5-4 Shaniah Paleafei played strong against Roosevelt's 6-foot forward Keala Quinlan, containing her to six points, the Rough Riders' guards picked up the slack.

"We tried to get the ball to Keala, but they did a good job, playing a tight assignment, taking it away, so a lot of pressure on our guards," Higa said. "I think they handled it pretty well. We might have turned over the ball a few times, but they took that initiative to take care of it and take the right shots. Even on the defensive end, too, they did a good job, as far as their assignments."

Tatupu was pleased with the way Savusa and Paleafei defended Quinlan.

"I'm proud of our girls," Tatupu said. "We knew going into this game that Quinlan would be their go-to player, so we felt if we could keep her from scoring, then we could hang in there. Roosevelt's other players, unfortunately, stepped up their game."

Leads changed hands five times in the second half, the final time midway through the third quarters when the Rough Riders strung an 6-0 run open their lead to 39-33. Heimuli, though, scored on two putbacks before the period ended to pull Farrington to 39-37. Roosevelt managed to widen its lead after Gabriel scored off of a steal and Quinlan's pull-up jumper made it 45-39. From there, Farrington only got to within five on two occasions the rest of the way.

Both teams resume play Saturday. Roosevelt will play at Division II Kaimuki, which is 4-1, while Farrington visits Kaiser (3-2).