Leilehua players celebrate after winning the OIA Red title in double overtime over Mililani. Evan Asato | SL

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Mililani's Nayla Long jumps up to grab a rebound. Evan Asato | SL

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Leilehua's Elyshia Bowden takes an easy jump shot over Mililani defenders. Evan Asato | SL

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Leilehua's Jerrilyn Maluyo sinks a fade-away three pointer at the end of the first half. Evan Asato | SL

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Leilehua's Carissa McBride, drives to the basket against Mililani Defenders Evan Asato | SL

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Thu, Jan 31, 2013 @ Waipahu

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Mililani

55

Leilehua

58

F/2OT	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT
Mililani (12-1, 13-3)	9	5	18	14	6	3	55
Leilehua (12-1, 14-2)	6	13	8	19	6	6	58

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

C. McBride 21 pts  1/3 FTs

N. Long 17 pts  1 3pm  6/12 FTs

C. McBride 12 tot

N. Long 8 tot

T. Reyher 4 ast

K. Amamalin 4 ast

WAIPAHU – This one was a long time coming.

Carissa McBride scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Leilehua to its first Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Division Girls Basketball championship with a 58-55 double-overtime win over Mililani Thursday night.

A crowd of about 300 spectators at Waipahu High School's Masa Yonamine Athletic Complex saw the Mules improve to 12-1 in exacting a bit of revenge against the Trojans, who fell to 12-1. Mililani handed Leilehua its lone loss of the year in the regular-season opener for both teams back on Dec. 5.

“We've never had (an OIA title) for girls in our school's history, so it's good and we're happy for our coach, I want to make my coach proud,” McBride said of Mules' coach Elroy Dumlao.

It was Leilehua's second appearance in the OIA championship game and the first time the game has gone into double-overtime.

“I felt comfortable and I think the girls did, too,” Dumlao said. “(Mililani) is an experienced team, but all it comes down to is heart. No matter how good they are, we're coming to play with heart and we're going to be fine with that if we don't panic and they hung in there and my young girls grew up a lot.”

Leilehua slowed the pace of the game down significantly in the first half. The Mules, who had won 11 straight since the seven-point loss in the teams' first meeting, did not allow the Trojans to get their uptempo game going. Mililani entered the game averaging over 66 points per game, while allowing just over 31 per game by opponents.

“Their game plan was awesome,” Mililani coach Pat Basilio said of Leilehua. “They slowed it down and took it us. It took us the whole first half (to get into a rythym).”

The teams were tied at 52-apiece after the first overtime period. Mililani took a 55-53 lead on a baseline drive and basket by Arruda, but Leilehua scored the game's final five points to hang on. A runner by Tiffany Reyher with 38 seconds to play tied it at 55. After a Mililani missed field goal, McBride made the first of two free throws to make a one-point Leilehua lead. The Trojans got the ball back, but turned it over the Mules with 7.8 seconds left on a traveling violation.

Following a Mules' timeout, Maluyo got to the free-throw line by drawing a foul on a drive to the basket and made both free throws. Mililani had a chance to tie it in the closing seconds, but missed a long two-pointer.

“I'm just so happy that we had the opportunity to be in this game,” said McBride, who also registered three steals, three blocks and an assist. “We worked our butts off this whole offseason. We played basketball all year round, played in tournaments and I think that conditioning helped us down the stretch.”

Dumlao and McBride agreed that the difference between the two meetings this season was experience.

“They grew up a lot (since then),” Dumlao said of his team. “The first time we played them, we turned the ball over all over the place, but I told the girls before this game that 'You guys have to have confidence. Eliminate the turnovers, be patient, play strong and play with energy.”

Said McBride: “We had our first-game jitters the last time we played them, but we figured it out and we just wanted it more this time.”

The Trojans took an early 5-0 lead and despite the going scoreless for five minutes and 14 seconds after that, held a 9-6 advantage after the opening quarter.

Leilehua fell behind 12-8 early in the second after a Kapili Amamalin made one of two free throws for Mililani. However, Elyshia Bowden made a layup to ignite an 11-2 Leilehua run, which ended with a miraculous, buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Jerrilyn Maluyo. Following a Mililani turnover, Briana Crawley found Maluyo, who drained the turn-around 20-footer while fading away from the basket to give her team a 19-14 halftime lead.

The Trojans rallied in the third quarter, outscoring the Mules, 18-8, in the period. Kira Arruda capped a 7-0 Mililani run with 4:31 left in the third to tie it at 21. The Trojans held a 32-27 lead entering the fourth quarter.

The game was tied at 46 after regulation and at 52 after the first overtime.

Long led Mililani, the West's top seed in scoring with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Mikaela Limper and Kaylee Torres added 10 apiece. The Trojans were 15 of 24 from the free-throw line.

Bowden finished with 13 points and six rebounds and Leilehua, the West's No. 2 seed, was 7 of 15 for free throws.

Leilehua, which entered the game averaging 53 points offensive and allowing just 29 points defensively, beat Kahuku and Kaimuki in earlier rounds of the 12-team tournament.

Both teams, along with Kaimuki, Waianae, Roosevelt and Kaiser, will represent the OIA in the upcoming Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I State Championships.