Junior point guard Jovi Funakoshi scored 10 of her game-high 16 points in the second quarter of Mililani's 55-33 win over Leilehua in Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division action Tuesday night. Brian Bautista | SL

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Tue, Dec 28, 2021 @ Mililani

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Leilehua

33

Mililani

55

Final	1	2	3	4
Leilehua (6-5, 6-5)	6	9	7	11	33
Mililani (11-2, 12-5)	18	15	6	16	55

J. Funakoshi 16 pts  2 3pm  4/6 FTs

M. Galletes 13 pts  5/7 FTs

MILILANI — Jovi Funakoshi scored 10 of her game-high 16 points in the second quarter and host Mililani pulled away from Leilehua, 55-33, in Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division girls basketball action Tuesday night. 

Funakoshi, a junior point guard, hit a pair of 3-pointers — both coming in the second stanza — and was 4 of 6 from the free-throw line. She had 13 points by halftime and was one of three players to score in double-figures for the Trojans (1-0), who were making their regular season debut. 

Mahealani Choy Foo and Akemi Kawamata added 11 points apiece in the win. Choy Foo splashed two of her three triples in the first quarter — when Mililani outscored the visitors, 18-6 — while Kawamata collected eight of her points in the fourth quarter. 

"These girls are really tight and that's the good thing," Trojans coach Michael Oyama said of his squad. "They support each other and it's been a pleasure to coach this whole season too now."

Oyama played all 11 of his players who were available Tuesday; all but three of them scored in the game. 

The Mules (0-2), meanwhile, went just eight deep for the second straight game. 

"We're confident we can play pretty much everybody right now. I think that will be an advantage for us moving forward," Oyama said. "I know Leilehua is pretty stretched there and that was kind of the game plan: to just kind of wear ‘em down."

Leilehua's roster includes five sophomores and two freshmen. Longtime coach Elroy Dumlao is taking the team's start (it lost to Radford Thursday, 44-29) in stride. 

"It's a young team, but they got spunk in them," Dumlao said of his bunch. "They want to learn and hopefully we can bank this, understand the situation we're in and just get better from here. Like I told these girls, this was a learning experience for us, but Mililani did a great job."

The Mules opened defensively in a zone look, but Mililani's hot shooting forced them out of it quickly. 

"They came out, they got their shots going and we decided to open up and we had to come out and cheat a little bit more and that opened the lane for that dribble-drive, or that offense they run with the pass and cut," Dumlao dissected. 

The Trojans turned an early 4-2 deficit into a commanding 12-point lead by the end of the first quarter. Raini Mayo's fast break layup ignited a 16-2 run that was capped by a pair of Choy Foo 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions. 

Mililani got a 15-foot jumper from Cienna Sison and a 3-pointer from Kawamata to take a 23-6 lead early in the second quarter. Funakoshi hit a pair from beyond the arc and then drove the length of the court for a coast-to-coast layup to score the Trojans' final eight points before halftime. 

The Trojans led at halftime, 33-15, and stretched it to a 37-17 advantage with about two and a half minutes left in the third quarter on a Sison putback. They led by as many as 24 following a Jenna Sagon-Galisa drive and bucket with 2:04 to play that stretched their lead to 55-31. 

"I saw some positives out there. I think, for the most part, (there was) progress from the previous game we played, but we're really working on defense — man defense — and we're still not quite there; it's a work in progress," Oyama said. "And then a lot of mental mistakes that we shouldn't be making, but we should be able to clean all that up."

Oyama said his team took its share of "lumps from some ILH teams" in the preseason, but overall it provided for some "good experience.

"It's just been such a long break that's it's like JV girls are coming up that missed a whole year so it's been tough, it's been a learning experience and I imagine everyone's in the same boat" Oyama said. 

Funakoshi, who was honorable mention all-OIA West as a freshman two years ago, will be looked to provide much of the leadership as the lone returning starter from the 2019-'20 squad that posted a 14-7 record and qualified for the state tournament. 

"We've been waiting for Jovi to have a breakout game," Oyama said. "She's been kind of struggling, so it was nice to see her have that kind of game. We do have shooters so that helps and offense looks good when your shooters can hit shots, (but) hasn't been the case most of the preseason."

Sison scored six points and Mayo and Sagon-Galisa added four apiece in the win. 

Mariah Galletes had 13 points to lead the Mules, who shot just 10 of 25 from the free-throw line. Dynasty Maunakea made the lone 3-pointer and tallied seven points in the loss. 

Mililani was 9 of 16 on free throws.

The Trojans visit Waianae Thursday, while Leilehua will have a bye next before it hosts the Seariders on Jan. 5.