Tue, Jan 7, 2014 @ Radford

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Mililani

54

Radford

27

Final	1	2	3	4
Mililani (12-1, 23-4)	10	16	19	9	54
Radford (8-6, 11-9)	5	6	8	8	27

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

J. Moody 21 pts  3/8 FTs

S. Liva 16 pts  4/4 FTs

J. Moody 14 tot

S. Liva 13 tot

K. Abad 2 ast

S. Bolibol 2 ast

ALIAMANU – Even though their offense had a slow start, their defense remained elite throughout the whole night.

Mililani, ranked fifth in the latest ScoringLive/OC16 Girls Basketball Power Rankings, held Radford to a sub-30 percent shooting performance to come away with a 54-27, road victory Tuesday night. The Rams also committed more turnovers than points, giving the ball up 30 times.

“I think we definitely stepped it up (on defense), especially because we’ve been working on (our) communication in practice,” Mililani center Sarah Liva said. “You can definitely see that we were showing it on the court, just talking it out and telling each other I got your back. All in all we just stuck together as a team and it worked out.” 

The loss drops Radford to 9-4 overall and 6-2 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division. Mililani improves to 16-2 and 8-0 in league play, clinching a first round bye in the OIA playoffs. 

“This is huge,” Mililani coach Patrick Basilio said on the win. “Total team effort. This is probably the first complete game that we’ve played. I think (we) came ready and hungry, and it showed on the court.”

Leading the way for the home team was forward Jasmine Moody. The 6-foot-1, junior finished with game-highs in points and rebounds, 21 and 14 respectively. Checking her on defense was Liva who also posted a double-double performance of 16 points and 13 rebounds.

“It’s definitely an honor to play against one of the best players in the state,” Liva said on playing against Moody. “You definitely (have to) raise your play to match hers, and hopefully exceed. She is an awesome player.  I’m glad to play against her; it was a great experience.”

Mililani had a rough shooting performance in the first half, only converting on ten of their 28 shot attempts. To counteract this, the Trojans dominated on the defensive end, forcing the Rams to shoot at a 20 percent clip.

“That’s the one thing we always stress; if team’s don’t score, they normally don’t win,” said Basilio. “We actually pressed on that. We went back to the fundamentals as far as our man-to-man (defense), just trying to coordinate where everybody is supposed to go. A lot of communication involved and I think it really showed tonight.” 

The third quarter provided the offensive breakthrough the Trojans needed to break the game open, scoring 19 in the penultimate period. They also outscored the Rams by 11 in the quarter, the biggest differential out of the four quarters. 

“I think that’s one of the keys; composure (and) perseverance,” said Basilio. “I guess (in) the second half, the passing lanes started opening up. It was mostly off of our transition defense – and I think from there we was easy to get easy buckets – and of course that starts opening up the flood gates.”

Providing most of the spark in the third quarter was forward Summer Bolibol. The 5-foot-6, junior scored six points with three assists and a steal in the period. Bolibol finished the game going 4-for-6 from the field, scoring ten points, grabbing five rebounds, dealing five assists and snagging two steals.

“Summer has been our heart and soul all year,” Basilio said on Bolibol. “She normally doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, but you can fell it when she’s not on the court. It’s all of those intangibles. I think she’s starting to warm up to that role and you can see her all over the court, diving (for loose balls).” 

Mililani can wrap up the Western Division’s regular season title and top seed with a win at Pearl City Thursday, Jan. 9. 

“It’s definitely a job well done,” Liva said after the game. “Before the game we were talking about how we wanted to come out strong, and I definitely think we did that. Very proud of all my girls; all glory to God.”