There are many moments when the Roosevelt Rough Riders, long and tough in the paint, explosive and effective on the arc, look like a savvy, seasoned teams.
Then there are the little boo-boos and veteran coach Steve Hathaway reminds himself than most of his starters are sophomores and freshmen. One of his seniors, Kaulana Koki, had a stellar game in the paint with 10 points, five rebounds and three blocks as Roosevelt reclaimed the OIA D-II title with a 43-41 win over McKinley on Wednesday night.
In the final seconds at McKinley Student Council Gym, it was reserve guard Jason Sur who had crucial block in the final seconds on a McKinley layup attempt by Quincy Owens-Barnes with the game at 43-41.
“Coach looks to me for defense, so I just try my best. There was no contact, so I went for it. I never blocked a shot in a game (before),” Sur said.
Drake Watanabe led Roosevelt (11-7) with 14 points, including 10 in the second quarter as the Rough Riders rallied. He had the final big play of the game with a block on Kaena Leopoldo at the buzzer after Leopoldo hustled for an offensive rebound.
“I tried to tell them to focus on (taking) charges. If they have a layup, foul them,” Hathaway said.
Hathaway had worries coming in. When the teams met on Jan. 30, McKinley got a huge night from Frank Camacho in a 51-45 win over Roosevelt. This time it was McKinley guard Noah Omori who was in a zone, pumping in seven treys and scoring 24 points.
“The last time, Camacho. made everything,” Hathaway said.
The coach hopes to have youngest son Trystan on the bench again for the state tourney. His son was there in the introductions, in his dad’s arms, when Roosevelt won the OIA D-II title in 2016.
“The last time Trystan was on the bench, Micah (Visoria) hit the 3 in double overtime. Trystan was announced with me,” Hathaway said. “He’s our good-luck charm.”
OIA Playoffs
Updated: Feb. 12| DIVISION I | |||
| Date | Home | Visitor | Time/Result |
| First round | |||
| 2/4 | Kapolei (W4) | Kailua (E5) | Kapo, 34-31 |
| 2/4 | Moanalua (E3) | Campbell (W6) | Moan, 56-34 |
| 2/4 | Radford (W3) | Kalani (E6) | Rad, 52-41 |
| 2/4 | Kaiser (E4) | Pearl City (W5) | Kais, 59-38 |
| Quarterfinals | |||
| 2/5 | Kalaheo (E1) | Kapolei | Kalh, 60-39 |
| 2/5 | Mililani (W2) | Moanalua | Moan, 73-48 |
| 2/5 | Kahuku (E2) | Radford | Kah, 69-43 |
| 2/5 | Leilehua (W1) | Kaiser | Lei, 40-39 |
| Consolation semifinals—At Higher Seed | |||
| 2/10 | Mililani | Kapolei | Kapo, 41-40 |
| 2/10 | Radford | Kaiser | Kais, 55-27 |
| Semifinals — At McKinley | |||
| 2/10 | Kalaheo | Moanalua | Moan, 59-51 |
| 2/10 | Kahuku | Leilehua | Kah, 59-58 |
| Fifth place—At Higher Seed | |||
| 2/12 | Kapolei | Kaiser | Kais, 39-33 |
| Third place—At Higher Seed | |||
| 2/12 | Leilehua | Kalaheo | Lei, 63-50 |
| Championship — At McKinley | |||
| 2/12 | Moanalua | Kahuku | Moan, 56-48 |
| DIVISION II | |||
| Quarterfinals | |||
| 2/4 | Waipahu (W2) | Kaimuki (E3) | Kaim, 61-50 |
| 2/4 | McKinley (E2) | Waialua (W3) | McK, 54-33 |
| Semifinals | |||
| 2/5 | Roosevelt (E1) | Kaimuki | Roos, 61-54 (OT) |
| 2/5 | Nanakuli (W1) | McKinley | McK, 40-23 |
| Championship— At McKinley | |||
| 2/12 | Roosevelt | McKinley | Roos, 43-41 |
| * — @ Roosevelt | |||
Roosevelt is an absolute JOKE!!!!! Crying to go down to D2 acting like yo have a weak team and doing whats best for your program then go out and beat/compete with D1 teams and win the OIA. What jokers. Put an asterisks by this. Cant believe the OIA allows teams to trade. Kalaheo didnt belong either but at least they would have been their because the process set itself up that way.
@ Soft Riders,
Why so mad bro?
Guaranteed this is the Kaiser xoach
Not mad, just calling a spade a spade. True D2 teams like Hanalani, HBA, University dont get fair opportunity because of programs like Roosevelt who decide they dont want a challenge and would rather take the soft route. Tired of seeing that. Damien never belonged in D2 either, they finally moved on so now Roosevelt can cry their way down and dominate. CLOWNS…..
@Soft Riders
Why so bitter? Let the kids enjoy the moment.
@Soft Riders
Stop hating. Taking all the attention away from the kids.
@softriders It’s definitely the kaiser head coach that’s saying this stuff.. like why does d1 and d2 even matter dont they all still play each other during the regular season??
Isn’t those schools that’s softriders mention in the ilh. Aren’t they private schools? So why would it matter what Roosevelt does?? When they are in to totally different leagues
@soft riders
You must be a coach, because if not you just sound Like a bitter fan over high school basketball (and grown adults don’t do that). You must NOT be McKinleys coach because you woulda been proud of your team and how far they made it. So you my guess is your a terrible coach in the same division as Roosevelt who couldn’t coach their players to compete at the highest level? Gotta be! Crybaby.
@soft riders
You sounding soft here talking crap about kids. Roosevelt should be d1? They got 9 kids on the team, 3 being freshman. How does that warrant being up in d1? Team is young, just so happened they are talented and had a pretty good year. If you have a problem go up to Roosevelt, talk to the coach. Call a spade a spade to his face, not behind the keyboard clown.
Congratulations Roosevelt! A well coached team and Drake, keep it going.
Who really cares. Soft Riders is so angry. And why? Roosevelt beat McKinley last night by like 2-4 points. It’s not like they sandbagged and won by 30. The game was highly competitive which shows they are in the correct division.
Once again, why you mad bro?
haha… @RidersAllDay is definitely the Roosevelt coach.
Acting all big behind a keyboard himself. Lol. Not going to sit here and take away anything from the Roosevelt kids. Congrats on the OIA div 2 championship.
But @softrider isn’t all wrong. In the end, we should want to teach the players to want to compete with the best; not to step down when the challenge is going to be tough.
@gotta love the OIA
Nice assumption but Guess again. Not acting at all, telling it straight. Let me guess your another Kaiser coach? Or you’ve never amounted to anything in life so you like to put in your two sense here and there. Another clown I see
I’m lost, what does Kaiser have to do with any of this?
This is just ridiculous. When I coached we always played up. I came up with the slogan O.T.O.G. You either play the best or die.