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Wednesday, January 3, 2001
Kahuku The Roosevelt boys' basketball team ended last season's Oahu Interscholastic Association season with a bang.
upsets defending
OIA champs
Turnovers kill Roosevelt on
opening night of the OIA
basketball seasonBy Tim Crouse
Special to the Star-BulletinBut the defending OIA champions started the new year with a whimper.
Kahuku overcame a nine-point first-half deficit to beat Roosevelt, 67-54, on opening night of the OIA regular season.
In a sloppy, physical, tightly-called game, the Red Raiders wore down the depleted Rough Riders -- and took advantage of Roosevelt's errors.
"We were short-handed. We got hit by the flu bug and a couple of the guys got injured, but we turned the ball over 20 times," Roosevelt coach John Chung said. "That's the most we've had so far. It killed us.
"We were up nine with a minute to go (in the first half), then we had turnover, turnover, turnover," he added.
What looked like a secure 31-22 lead for Roosevelt heading into halftime turned into just a 32-30 margin after Kahuku converted mistakes into points.
James Kammerer scored five of his 13 points in that run.
"It gave them momentum," Chung said. "Give them credit, they came out in the second half ready to play. They just made the plays when they had to and we didn't."
The Red Raiders held the Rough Riders without a field goal for the first seven and a half minutes of the third quarter, and took a 34-32 lead when Aaron Fransisco blocked a shot, made a steal and scored on a fastbreak.
Keola Stietzel scored all five of Roosevelt's points in the third, with a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining. He finished with a game-high 18 points.
The Rough Riders took their final lead of the game, 41-40, early in the fourth quarter on an Andrew Choy layup, but the advantage was quickly erased.
Kammerer converted a three-point play on Kahuku's next possession.
Kahuku guard Philip Alisa hit a pair of jumpers moments later to give the Red Raiders a 52-49 lead.
Then with 2:45 remaining in the game, Roosevelt's only inside threat -- Kala Koki -- fouled out with 10 points.
Kahuku outscored Roosevelt, 15-5, the rest of the way, with six points coming on layups and six more on free throws.
Alisa led the Red Raiders with 17 points and all-state football star Fransisco chipped in with eight.
"We've been playing here six years in a row and it's been some time since we won a game here, so it's very gratifying," Kahuku coach Nathan James said. "We didn't spend a lot of time focusing on the fact that they were the defending OIA champions.
"We discussed how important it was for us to win on the road and to win games that would help us get into the playoffs," he said. "Because of the fact that we only have 10 games, it's really important to win every game."
James said Fransisco, a starter, will miss up to four games of the regular season because of football recruiting trips to the mainland.
In other OIA action yesterday:
Kalaheo 58, Kaimuki 50:
The host Mustangs took an early 21-8 lead, then held off the Bulldogs down the stretch to win their opener.Ikaika Francis and Skyler Wilson each scored 20 points to lead Kalaheo. CJ Kamiola added 11 points. All-state guard DC Daniels, who is battling the flu, was limited to five points.
"Skyler took over the game in the last three or four minutes," Kalaheo coach Pete Smith said.
Wilson drained a 3-pointer, hit a short jumper and sank five free throws, as the Mustangs outscored the Bulldogs, 17-10, in the final quarter.
McKinley 56, Kalani 54:
The Falcons had a chance to tie the game with six seconds left, but turned the ball over. McKinley's Easley Hicks hit for six of his 14 points down the stretch to keep the Tigers in front. The Falcons scrambled back from a nine-point deficit to tie the game at 46-46 early in the fourth quarter.
Radford 69, Nanakuli 35:
Ten different players scored as the Rams buried the host Golden Hawks, scoring at least 15 points in every quarter. Kula Tanuvasa paced Radford with 15 points and Kevin Calloway added 11.
Pearl City 65, Aiea 59 (OT):
Terry Ayers scored six of his game-high 21 points in overtime as the Chargers outscored Na Alii, 10-4, in the extra frame to secure the win at home.