With all five seniors in the starting lineup, Kaimuki celebrated senior night by defeating visiting Roosevelt 51-37 in Oahu Interscholastic Association girls basketball action on Wednesday, January 11th to close out its regular season with an amazing 11-0 league record. The victory earned the Lady Bulldogs the number one seed of the Red East Division in the upcoming OIA tournament which starts on Thursday, January 19^th.

Kaimuki trailed only briefly in the opening minutes of the game then put the contest out of reach in the  second half highlighted by outstanding performances by their seniors.

Ahead 24-18 at halftime, Kaimuki scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 33-18 advantage. The Lady Bulldogs added another 9-0 run and the outcome was never in doubt thereafter.

Ashley Savusa led the charge with 15 points. Keana Paez had 14 points, Dejah Fa’asoa tallied 11 and Shantaeus Ramos-Dias added nine.

“Our girls have worked hard all season to get better,” said Kaimuki coach Ramona Fa’asoa. “We’ve been very fortunate to win close games and I think the extra effort the girls gave to win those games have given them the incentive to keep winning.”

Savusa echoed Fa’asoa’s comments. “We came into this game wanting to win. We are the smallest team in the OIA but this team comes to each practice with a desire to win. We work together and play within our abilities. Once we started winning we knew that it was possible to go undefeated.”

Asked about the opportunity to win the OIA Red Division tournament, Fa’asoa commented, “Our team knows that they have a target on their backs now. We have to continue to compete and play up to our potential.”

Roosevelt finished the regular season with a 7-4 league record and will be the East Division number four seed in the OIA tourney. Farrington also finished the season with a 7-4 league record, but Roosevelt defeated the Governors 56-47 earlier in the season to earn the tiebreaker. Kira Arruda led the Rough Riders with 12 points.

Kaimuki won the Hawaii High School Athletic Association state Division II and OIA White Division titles in 2010 and will be gunning for the school’s first league Red Division crown. Farrington has won the OIA Red Division title for the past three seasons.

After the game, the Kaimuki players treated their fans and seniors with a dance.