Kaiser's Jordan Passas drives to the basket against Farrington. Evan Asato | SL

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Kaiser players battle for a rebound against Farrington. Evan Asato | SL

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Kaiser's Brandi Arita goes up for a shot attempt in the paint against Farrington. Evan Asato | SL

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Farrington's Jeneva Toilolo puts up a shot against Kaiser. Evan Asato | SL

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Kaiser's Roselynn Shimaoka puts up a shot against Farrington. Evan Asato | SL

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Fri, Jan 3, 2014 @ Farrington

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Kaiser

51

Farrington

48

Final	1	2	3	4
Kaiser (7-4, 7-10)	16	13	9	13	51
Farrington (9-3, 11-5)	16	5	8	19	48

N. Cabato-Macado 12 pts  4 3pm

R. Shimaoka 10 pts  1 3pm

KALIHI — A strong defensive effort against the bigs of Farrington — and just enough offense from a multitude of players — helped Kaiser to a 51-48 win Friday night.

Roselyn Shimaoka scored a team-high 10 points as the Cougars won their second consecutive game to improve to 4-3 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association's Eastern Division. The host Governors saw their three-game winning streak snapped in front of a crowd of about 150 spectators at Richard Kitamura Gymnasium and fell to 5-3.

Ten of the 11 players that saw action for Kaiser scored, but Shimaoka was the lone player in double figures. Brooke Ho had eight points, Chantelle Arce seven and Brandi Arita six. Four other players added four points each.

However, it was on the defensive end that the Cougars shined. Govs' post players Penina Faumui and Jeneva Toilolo average 17.5 and 18.3 points per game in league contests, respectively, but combined for just 16 points Friday.

"That's their go-to people so we've got to concentrate on defending the people who are going to score on us the most," Kaiser coach Simon Bitanga said. "We thrive on defense and we want to shut down their best players and sometimes no can — against Kailua we shut down their two best players and another girl scored 44 points — so we try to just focus on defending opponents' best players."

Faumui, who finished with nine points, had just one point by halftime, but scored six in the final quarter. Toilolo added seven points, including just two made field goals, but was just 3 of 8 on free throws.

"We were taking away the bigs and just letting them shoot from the outside," said Shimaoka, who was 5 of 8 from the free-throw line and made one of her team's two 3-pointers. "I think we did good because they didn't score too much points. They still got rebounds, but I think we did good."

Farrington held an 11-6 lead about midway through the first quarter, but Kaiser seized a 23-16 lead less than two minutes into the second following a 9-0 run. An easy basket by Skye Keao off an assist from Jordan Passas ignited the run, which ended with five straight points by Shimaoka off a 3-pointer and two made free throws.

The Cougars took a 29-21 lead into halftime. They played at a frantic pace in the first half, pushing the tempo against the bigger Govs, but slowed things down considerably in the second, opting for more half-court sets.

"Our other bigs weren't pulling through on the takeaways, so I needed our starters and the girls who know what they're doing to have a little more rest so I just slowed it down just a little bit to let the other girls see what we're doing on the court and learn and they did. They did better in the second half," Bitanga said.

Shimaoka said it was a matter of being more patient with the ball.

"We decided to run the plays and just take our time with the ball and see what's open instead of just rush things," she said.

Farrington got a reverse lay-in from Faumui with about two minutes and 10 seconds left in the third quarter to pull within 31-28. However, Passas answered on Kaiser's next possession with a long-two pointer that was the start of a 9-1 run. That stretched the Cougars' lead to 40-29 just seconds into the fourth quarter, which tied their largest lead of the game.

The Govs made it close in the game's final minute when Nani Cabato-Macado hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to cut the Kaiser lead to 48-44, but were unable to make it a one-possession game until Arabelle Dela Cruz hit a 3-pointer at the final buzzer.

Cabato-Macado led all scorers with 12 points, all coming on 3-pointers. Farrington, which was 6 of 12 from the free-throw line, visits Kalani Thursday. The Govs hold a one-half game lead over the Falcons for the top spot in the OIA White East standings. Kaiser, which hosts Kalani Tuesday, is in fourth place in the Red East.