HHSAA Division II GIRLS BASKETBALL: #1 Radford survives scare by Hawaii Prep in overtime

By Kyle Sakamoto
 
No. 1 seed Radford will play on, but it had a huge scare from Hawaii Prep on Wednesday in a state Division II girls quarterfinal game Wednesday at Farrington.

Jemory Castro scored inside with 2:10 left – the only points in the four-minute overtime – as Radford held off Hawaii Prep, which got superb efforts from the 1-2 punch of Leahi Lindsey and Chancis Francis.

“I told them we needed to keep them at 45,” said Radford coach Tani Almont-Dutro. “We didn’t want them to stall on us. We wanted to score the first bucket and keep them at 45.”

Radford will play the winner of Hawaii Baptist/Kapaa in the semifinals Thursday at 7 p.m. at Farrington.
Radford had the ball with 40 seconds left in overtime with Hawaii Prep having committed only three team fouls.
Ka Makani fouled four times in succession, which put Kelsey Bash at the line for a 1-and-1 with 10.3 seconds left. Her free throw missed and the ball was knocked out of bounds, which gave Hawaii Prep possession with 8.4 seconds left.
Hawaii Prep quickly worked the ball down the floor and the Rams’ Bash forced a jump ball with 0.6 second remaining, which gave Radford possession.

“We told them every loose ball is ours,” Almont-Dutro said.

Radford’s Bash scored 12 points and Castro added 11. Korie Johnson had five blocks, including three in overtime.
Hawaii Prep’s Lindsey scored 22 points and Francis added 19. The only other Ka Makani player to score was Katie Ho, who had four. Lindsey added nine rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Fernandez had eight rebounds and four steals.
“It’s hard to defend them. They’re like Energizer bunnies,” Almont-Dutro said. “They’re smart and cut hard to the ball.”
Hawaii Prep will play the loser of Hawaii Baptist/Kapaa on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Kaimuki.