The roar of the engine could be heard for miles.

The Pearl City girls basketball team charged its motor all-night long in speeding to an easy 61-26 victory over host Radford on Monday, January 11 to take over first place in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West Division with a 9-1 record.

The win brings Pearl City closer to a showdown against Mililani in a regular season finale on January 21. That contest could present the winner with sole ownership of the division title. The game will be broadcasted live from Kalani High School at 5 p.m. on OC16.

Mililani is in second place in the division with an 8-1 record. The Trojans had a bye on Monday, but will have a chance to regain a share of first place if they can defeat visiting Aiea this Wednesday.

“It’s going to be quite an interesting match up when we play Mililani,” Pearl City coach Michael Morton said. “Mililani is a tough team. They showed that they can play against the best competition the whole season. We can’t wait to play them.”

Out of the gate, the Chargers sped away from Radford behind a 12-2 run that left tire marks on the James Alegre Gym floor.

Jordan Ahahkuelo led the attack in those early moments, scoring six of Pearl City’s first eight points. This early spurt put Pearl City comfortably in the lead which lasted the rest of the game and allowed them to freely substitute its players throughout.

Leading 34-13 at halftime, Pearl City kept its foot on the gas pedal to outscore Radford 27-13 in the second half.

“We are a defensive team, but tonight I just happen to get the ball in the right spots to score those early points,” said Akahuelo, who paced Pearl City with 20 points. “We practice hard and we are ready for the challenge of playing for the division title.”

Akahuelo added, “I just don’t give up and play as best as I can. My teammates have been very good in helping me out a lot. It’s a team sport and we depend on each other to win.”

In other OIA action, Roosevelt got 15 points each from Shana Kawakami and Mikela Thoemmes to defeat Kailua 59-42. The Rough Riders jumped out to a 33-15 first half lead then held off a late comeback attempt by Kailua to improve their record to 8-1 in OIA Red East.

Leilehua increased its record to 8-1 with a 44-26 win over Waipahu to secure first place in the OIA White. Alondra Hooks led the way with 13 points.