Maae, Cougars pull away from Trojans in the second half

Kaiser's Alexus Maae puts up a shot over two Mililani defenders in the third quarter of an OIA Division I quarterfinal game Friday night. Michael Lasquero | SL

The last time the Kaiser and Mililani girls basketball teams met in the playoffs, the game needed overtime to decide a victor.

Alexus Maae made sure that wouldn't be the case Friday night.

The Kaiser junior forward scored 12 of her game-high 22 points after halftime to help the Cougars run past the visiting Trojans, 50-30, in the quarterfinals of the OIA Division I playoffs.

Jamie Kimura added 13 points in the win as Kaiser avenged a 45-43 overtime loss in the league semifinals a year ago.

Both teams were neck and neck in the first half with the halftime score tied at 21 — but the second half belonged to Maae and the Cougars.

Maae, who earned All-OIA East Player of the Year honors last season, scored six straight points to give Kaiser a 29-23 lead with 3:25 to play in the third quarter. She did it with a handful of hustle plays, which included her putting back her own miss as well as taking a steal coast-to-coast to force a Mililani timeout.

Jovi Funakoshi's triple made it a 3-point game with under two minutes to play in the quarter, but Maae scored the final five points of the period to give the Cougars a 34-26 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

With the Trojans' attention on Maae, other players started to get in the scoring column. Kealishi Kalani started the final period of play with an easy bucket after she caught a full-court lob on a press-breaker. Trendee Kahunahana ran a give-and-go play with Maae on a sideline out-of-bounds play for another two points and good ball movement allowed Kimura to find a cutting Jasey Morikawa to give Kaiser a 40-26 lead with 4:38 left in regulation.

Mililani managed just one made basket and two made free throws the rest of the way as the Cougars were able to pull away for a 20-point victory.

Kaiser advances to face reigning league champion Campbell next Monday in the second semifinal at Moanalua's gymnasium. Tip-off is slated for no earlier than 7:30 p.m.