Roosevelt's Drake Watanabe scored 15 points to help power the Rough Riders to their fourth OIA league title in school history. CJ Caraang | SL

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Wed, Feb 12, 2020 @ McKinley

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McKinley

41

Roosevelt

43

Final	1	2	3	4
McKinley (7-7, 15-15)	9	7	15	10	41
Roosevelt (6-5, 13-8)	4	16	10	13	43

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

D. Watanabe 15 pts  1 3pm  4/9 FTs

N. Omori 25 pts  7 3pm  0/0 FTs

D. Watanabe 12 tot  3 off  9 def

K. Leopoldo 6 tot  1 off  5 def

L. Quinlan 2 ast

F. Camacho 2 ast

KAKAAKO — Drake Watanabe recorded a double-double and one of his team's two blocks in the final seconds to lead Roosevelt to a 43-41 win over McKinley in the title game of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II boys basketball tournament Wednesday night.

The Rough Riders (8-5) claimed their fifth win in six games to capture their fourth league crown and first since 2016.

The Tigers (7-7) saw their three-game win streak come to an end. They were seeking their first OIA championship.

Watanabe, a sophomore shooting guard, scored a team-high 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. He had 12 points by halftime, but it was his late block on the defensive end that ultimately secured the win for his team.

McKinley held its last lead with 3:35 left to play on a Noah Omori 3-pointer from the left corner — one of his seven treys in a losing effort. That gave the Tigers a slim 36-35 advantage. However, Roosevelt reclaimed the lead for good one possession later, when Kayman Lewis found an open Logan Quilan cutting to the basket for an easy bucket.

The teams traded 3-pointers before Lewis hit a running bank shot from the left baseline to make it a 42-39 lead for the Rough Riders with 1:33 remaining.

Omori drove the lane and hit a tough runner to answer for McKinley and cut it to a one-point game.

Each team missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity at the line before Watanabe was fouled with 25.1 seconds left. However, the 72-percent free-throw shooter missed the front end of a one-and-one. He managed to grab his own rebound and was fouled again. This time he made the front end of the one-and-one to push it back to a two-point lead at 43-41.

McKinley's ensuing possession resulted in Ouincy Owens-Barnes getting his shot blocked by Jason Hur. The Rough Riders secured the rebound and Watanabe was fouled right away. However, the sophomore southpaw uncharacteristically missed both free throws and McKinley regained possession with 7.1 seconds left.

Out of a timeout, the Tigers got the ball to its leading scorer on the season, senior forward Frank Camacho, who took a shot from near the right elbow with a few seconds left on the clock. Camacho's potential-game tying shot missed off the back iron, but the rebound came off to McKinley's Kaena Leopoldo. However, Leopoldo's putback attempt was blocked by Watanabe just before the final buzzer.

"Frank got a pretty good look, but I just told myself to go get that rebound if he missed," Watanabe said. "I didn't, but I knew the time was running out so I knew (Leopoldo) was just gonna go up, no fake, nothing, so I just went up and blocked him."

Roosevelt coach Steve Hathaway could hardly believe it when Watanabe missed four of his final five free throws in the final minute of play.

"I thought we were going to seal it at the line. I did not expect Drake to miss that, or at least make one, but he came through with his defense at the end," said Hathaway, who also led the team to OIA D2 titles in 2010 and 2016.  

Watanabe was his harshest critic afterward.

"I told myself not to think about it, but I just kept thinking about it and then couldn't hit the free throws — came up short — and had to make a close game at the end when I could have sealed it," the Punahou-transfer lamented.

Roosevelt won the rebounding battle, 28 to 17.

Kaulana Koki scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds in the win. Logan Quinlan and Kody Seguancia added seven apiece for the Rough Riders.

Omori poured in 22 points after halftime and finished with a season-high 25 points despite dealing with cramping in his lower left leg for much of the second half.

Roosevelt led 20-16 at halftime.

The Rough Riders avenged a 51-45 loss to the Tigers in the final game of the regular season on Jan. 30. However, they had already locked up the Eastern Division's top seed in the OIA D2 tournament prior to that contest.

Both teams will represent the league in next week's Snapple/HHSAA D2 State Championships, which run Wednesday through Friday on Oahu.