Roosevelt weathered a slow start, employed a stifling zone defense, and relied on forward Kaipo Pale's 14 points and 16 rebounds last night to overpower Hanalani 52-37 in the opening round of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Boys Basketball Division II State Championships at Kalani's Earl C. Holmer Gym.

With the victory, the Rough Riders (18-8) advance to a quarterfinal matchup today at 5 p.m. with second-seeded Kohala (20-4), the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion. Roosevelt was the third-place team from the Oahu Interscholastic Association's White Division.

The Rough Riders out-rebounded the Royals 51-20, and made up for 22 turnovers in the contest. Roosevelt relied on its zone defense to counter Hanalani's motion offense, plugging gaps in the lane, forcing the Royals to settle for long-range jumpers, and crashing the boards.

“;He can board, he knows how to go get the ball,”; Roosevelt coach Steve Hathaway said of Pale. “;He's had a lot of big games rebounding, and especially not letting them get second-chance shots, that was key for us.”;

Despite a rash of early turnovers, the Rough Riders finished the first quarter with a 13-8 advantage as Matthew Moe hit a fade-away jumper in the lane that just beat the buzzer.

Trailing 17-10 early in the second quarter, Hanalani fought back to cut the lead to 17-14 on two Darin Kamealoha buckets—the last leading an exasperated Hathaway to call a timeout.

“;Our team played scrappy, and it just took a while to wake up,”; Hathaway said. “;The defense really keyed our little start there. I went to more of a zone because they weren't hitting many shots from outside.”;

Hanalani (15-14) came out of the intermission firing, and went ahead 24-21 on two 3-pointers from Kamealoha. But Roosevelt countered with an 11-1 run, including three straight baskets from Pale, and ended the third quarter with a 34-27 advantage.

“;Our kids are so small, so obviously you have to shoot well, and Roosevelt came out with their big men and were hard to handle,”; said Hanalani coach Rob Araki. “;We tried to use our quickness, but they did a great job, and held us down in the second half after they went to the zone. We couldn't figure it out.”;

The Rough Riders relied on shifty point guard Lowen Kaho'oilihala to break the Royals' full-court pressure and find teammates cutting through the paint. Roosevelt put the game out of reach with a 15-5 run to start the fourth quarter.

Kailua 77, Seabury Hall 53

Kenny Ellis finished with a game-high 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Surfriders over the Spartans.

Kailua outscored Seabury Hall 39-20 in the second half by holding the Spartans to 6-for-22 shooting. Dylan Farias and Kauila Miller each had six steals for the Surfriders.