JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Kalaheo's Shanadee Canon hung her head as Roosevelt celebrated its win in yesterday's OIA quarterfinals at Radford.

Riders stun Mustangs

It hadn't been the senior season Chelsie Kadota envisioned it being in November, but one shot turned it into something even better.

Kadota buried a 3-pointer from the corner with 17 seconds left as the Rough Riders erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to upset East top seed Kalaheo 52-51 last night in front of a raucous crowd at Radford gym.

One year removed from Division II status in girls basketball, Roosevelt earned a spot in the Division I state tournament with the thrilling come-from-behind victory.

"Beating Kalaheo is a big deal for us and for this program," Rough Riders coach Bobby Keanini said. "We came out with a lot of fire and made some big shots down the stretch."

But none were bigger than Kadota's 3-pointer that nearly was called a 2. After some confusion at the scorer's table as to whether the shot was a 2 or 3, the referee signaled it was a 3, but the scoreboard didn't show Roosevelt took the lead until there were 5 seconds left. Kalaheo hoisted up one last shot, but missed and the ball went out of bounds with 2 seconds left. Roosevelt quickly inbounded the ball and the clock ran out before the Mustangs could foul.

"I wasn't thinking anything," Kadota said of the last shot. "I knew they were going to key on our big people ... I knew I could make it."

Taylor Smith scored a game-high 24 points, including one span in the second half where she scored 13 of 15 points for Kalaheo in building a 43-33 lead, forcing Keanini to call a timeout.

"I thought we got a little tentative and went away from attacking like we'd been doing," Keanini said. "We went back to being a bit more patient and mixed it up a little on defense and, like I said, we just made the shots we needed, too."

Tati Beasley added 14 points and Nicole Yoshimoto 10 for the Rough Riders, who after fighting through a slew of injuries en route to a 4-8 regular-season record, have now qualified for states.

"We were Division II and it was important for us to prove that we belong here," Kadota said.

"We had our ups and downs, and being teenagers, they were pointing the finger at each other sometimes," Keanini added. "But I told them to instead point the finger at me and now hopefully we can carry this roll we're on even farther."

Roosevelt will next face Kaiser, which beat the Rough Riders twice in the regular season, in a semifinal game on Tuesday. Kalaheo, who still can clinch a state tournament berth by winning its next two games to finish in fifth place, will take on Radford.

At Radford H.S. gym

Roosevelt (6-8)	11	14	8	19	--	52
Kalaheo (11-2)	14	11	14	12	--	51

ROOSEVELT--Dianna Zane 2, Tati Beasley 14, Chelsie Kadota 9, Dasha Kawakami 6, Larisa Nakasone 6, Kaitlynn Simmonds 0, Nicole Yoshimoto 10, Shannon Miyashiro 5.
KALAHEO--Hoku Denning 2, Shaina Siliga 6, Randi Farstad 7, Shanadee Canon 4, Brianne Villarosa 0, Taylor Smith 24, Kendra Fischer 0, Kaliko Kepa 2, Kathleen Hicks 6.
3-point goals -- Roosevelt 4 (Nakasone 2, Kadota, Yoshimoto), Kalaheo 3 (Siliga 2, Smith).