Keala Quinlan and the Rough Riders will try for their third straight league crown Saturday against Tywanna Abbott and the Mules. ScoringLive photo illustration

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The two teams that have combined to win the last three Oahu Interscholastic Association titles in Division I will square off for yet another league crown Saturday night.

Two-time defending titlist and sixth-ranked Roosevelt will meet unranked Leilehua at Radford's Jim Alegre Gymnasium with a seeded berth in next week's 12-team state tournament going to the winner.

Tip off between the Rough Riders (12-0) and Mules (11-2) is slated for 7 p.m.

The matchup features two of the state's best post players in Roosevelt's Keala Quinlan (20.1 ppg in OIA games) and Leilehua's Tywanna Abbott (10.8 ppg).

Quinlan, a 6-foot senior forward, has scored at least 20 points in six games this season and eclipsed the 30-point mark three times, including a season-high 32 points just six days ago in a 10-point win over Kailua to close out an undefeated regular season for the Rough Riders.

As a junior last year, Quinlan, who is signed with the University of Portland, was both a First Team All-OIA East selection and a First Team All-Hawaii pick.

However, Roosevelt lost OIA East Player of the Year, Starr Rivera, and Second Team pick Sharice Kawakami to graduation. Senior guard Ashley Kiko, who earned Honorable Mention last year, is the only other returnee aside from Quinlan to see significant playing time last season.

That said, Rough Riders coach Hinano Higa said this year's squad has little to do with the last two OIA titles.

"I think for Keala and Ashley they might look toward that direction, (but) the rest of our girls didn't get as much playing time," Higa said. "They got a few minutes here and there, but more so it's about knowing that it's possible for us to do it as a team with what we have. We're excited to be here. We've got to focus on what we need to execute as individuals and as a team to be successful."

Leilehua coach Elroy Dumlao said he has a lot of admiration for Higa and her program.

"They're very well coached, they're hard working and they've got a lot of toughness in them," Dumlao said. "They play with a lot of grit, a lot of passion for the game and a lot of determination so my hats off to coach Hinano and their system that they run. We're going to have our hands full but we will try our best."

The Mules, who finished third in the Western Division this year, have had to adjust to a slew of new faces this year as well. Four starters from last year's team either graduated or transferred out, leaving only Abbott — last year's West Player of the Year — behind.

"This is the first year that they're all playing together," Dumlao said. "I think the girls are playing with more confidence now, but we're definitely the underdogs coming in with four new starters and trying to understand my philosophy and trying to get that chemistry to play tighter."

Senior point guard Tianna Hanohano, a transfer from Nanakuli, is averaging 8.8 points, junior guard Shaylee Todani 7.4 and junior forward Chyel Palmer 6.3.

"They're a good team with a great coach that has been in the championship game before, so they've got experience," Higa said of the Mules. "We're looking to stop Hanohano and Abbott. Hanohano is a tough matchup because she's a tall point guard and she's very aggressive to the basket and Abbot just loves anywhere around the painted area and she will use her body and her strength, so we're looking to take the ball out of those two peoples' hands and see what we can get from there."

Both coaches are hoping to keep from relying too heavily on their star players.

"It's going to be a complete team effort against Keala," Dumlao said. "There's going to be little things we have to do with her — identify where she is on the floor, box her out — and it might come down to head-to-head scoring, but it will be a team effort because these guys come with a lot of pressure, traps from a lot of angles."

Higa said she is looking to avoid having Quinlan matched up with Abbott early on.

"We'll probably have one of our other players on (Abbott) to start off (defensively), but we'll probably finish it off with Keala," Higa said.

The Rough Riders are coming off a 55-51 double-overtime win over Farrington in Wednesday's semifinals, but it's the Mules — who posted a 31-26 upset of West top seed Radford in their semifinal — that are struggling to get rejuvenated in time for Saturday's title game.

"There's something going around," Dumlao said. "At practice (Thursday), I counted six girls sniffling, so I cut practice a little early so we could get some rest. We went over some stuff and will continue to work again (Friday). Our health is not too good, but right now it's all mental. It's all mental, because everybody is playing with injuries or sickness so it's not excuse and we've just got to move on."

The teams met back on Nov. 24 in the preason with Quinlan scoring 17 points to lead Roosevelt to a 50-38 win over Leilehua.

The Rough Riders are seeking their seventh league crown, while the Mules are looking for their second. They won their only OIA title in 2013.