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Winning its fifth straight girls basketball game -- all on the road -- Kahuku ran past Kaimuki, 52-35, Friday night to advance to next week's O'ahu Interscholastic Association semifinals.

The Red Raiders, who finished fifth in the OIA Red Conference Eastern Division, improved to 8-7 in league play and will face East co-champion Farrington (12-2) in the winners' bracket final on Jan. 20. East No. 3 seed Kaimuki fell to 8-7 and but is still alive in the championship race due to the tournament's modified double-elimination format.

The Bulldogs will meet West No. 3 seed Pearl City (9-6) on Wednesday.

Kahuku, which finished third in last year's Division II state tournament, started this OIA season 0-3 in the Red (Division I) Conference and was 3-7 less than three weeks ago.

But the Red Raiders have since caught fire, and Friday night showed why they are now a legitimate DI title contender.

"They're very strong," said Kaimuki coach Mona Fa'asoa, whose Bulldogs are the reigning DII state champion. "They have height, they have dribblers, they can shoot ... they have everything."

Kaimuki guard Cannie Aikau drained a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to tie it at 12-12 heading into the second period, but Kahuku quickly took control from there.

Allyson Te'o hit a short bank shot to start the Red Raiders on an 8-0 run capped by Jessica Falemalu's 3-pointer to make it 20-12 midway through the second quarter. The Bulldogs cut it to 21-16 early in the third, but Seiko Schwenke's layup sparked a 13-2 run and the lead stretched to 34-18 after Tyra Williams' layup with 1:25 remaining in the period.

Another layup by Manala Afalava made it 41-21 two minutes into the fourth, and Kaimuki could not get closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

The Bulldogs hurt their own cause by missing 20 of 28 free throw attempts for the game, including 18 of 25 in the second half.

"We did exactly what we wanted to in getting to the line, but we couldn't hit the shots," Fa'asoa said.

Kahuku coach David Te'o, meanwhile, said his team has "ironed out some wrinkles" and is jelling at the right time.

"They went through different stages and it was just a matter of getting the camaraderie together," Te'o said. "In the beginning we'd have five players on the court with five different characteristics. Now they all are trusting each other out there and I gotta give it up to our seniors -- they've taken control."

Next week's semifinal site is yet to be determined, but Te'o said with five straight road victories, another away game might not be such a bad thing.

"We don't mind it now," he said.

Joshy Noga led the Red Raiders with 11 points, and Letisha Fa'asoa scored a game-high 12 points for Kaimuki.