OIA Girls Basketball
Radford routs Roosevelt to advance to OIA semis


  



Thu, Feb 3, 2022 @ Roosevelt


Final 1 2 3 4  
Radford (11-3, 13-4) 17 13131356
Roosevelt (11-3, 11-4) 10 6 2 1028
K. Layug-Delovio 12 pts  1 3pm  1/2 FTs
M. Mattos 16 pts  4/4 FTs

MAKIKI—Radford dominated from start to finish to run past host Roosevelt, 56-28 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I quarterfinals Thursday.

Mailana Mattos (13.0 ppg) led the way with 16 points and was 4 for 4 from the free throw line, Angel Asaah (7.6 ppg) established herself in the post for 11 points, and Jirah Villanueva (15.7 ppg) chipped in 10 to help the Rams (10-2) clinch a state tournament berth and advance to the semifinal round to take on No. 10 Campbell on Monday, Feb. 7 on their home floor.

"She (Mattos) had a huge game. Mailana is about getting up and down that court and it played to her forte. It's the playoffs and the girls knew there was a lot riding on this game. I thought the team as a whole played with a lot of energy. That's what we emphasized, playing with a lot of energy and effort and staying connected on the court," Radford coach Charles Chong said.

Mattos scored the first basket off the opening tip and attacked the rim early and often to account for 10 of the team's 17 first quarter points.

The Rams led by 10 until Kaili Heen hit a triple and Makelah Richardson added her only bucket of the game in transition to get the Rough Riders within five, 15-10 but could not get any closer.

Radford turned up the pressure in their 2-3 zone to force turnovers that led to Villanueva scoring back-to-back fast break buckets. Olena Umetsu contributed seven of her nine points off the bench in the second quarter and hit the team's only 3-pointer to put Radford up big, 30-13.

"I thought they were pretty consistent, we got to play a little bit smarter. In the beginning, we got ourselves overextended and Roosevelt was taking advantage of the gaps so once we settled down, we had a good running game," Chong said.

Heen hit her second 3-pointer of the game from the right corner, but Radford went into halftime with a commanding 30-16 lead.

Richardson, who leads the team in scoring with 11.1 points per game, injured her left ankle with over three minutes to go before the half. She wasn't the same and did not play for majority of the second half.

"Makelah, we knew she's a big problem and we have to know where she was at all times and make it difficult for her. Sorry to see her go down with injury," Chong said.

Layug-Delovio (6.1 ppg) carried the scoring load and finished with 12 points and opened the third quarter with a drive to the basket, but it was all Radford the rest of the way and closed out the quarter on a 13-0 run and went up, 43-18 going into the fourth.

Heen finished with 11 points, three 3-pointers and was 2 for 3 from the free throw line.

"They hit some threes. Number 12 (Kaili) if she any kind of space, she's letting it go and she was hitting. We had to know where she was at all time," Chong said of Heen.

Radford shot 11 for 21 (52.3 percent) from the free throw line while Roosevelt shot 4 for 9 (44.4 percent).

The Sabers defeated the Rams earlier in the regular season, 39-37 on Jan. 13.

Tip off between Radford and Campbell is scheduled to follow the first semifinal matchup featuring Mililani and Kaiser at 5 p.m.

Roosevelt drops to the fifth place bracket and will take on Kahuku at 6:30 p.m. The winner faces the Moanalua/Nanakuli winner. The last two teams standing in that bracket will clinch the league's final two state berths.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].




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