The Roosevelt boys basketball team went to its height and depth to pull out a a 52-37 win over Hanalani in the first round of the HHSAA/Hawaiian Airlines Boys Basketball Division II State Championships at Kalani High School last night.

Roosevelt (13-5), the third team out of the O'ahu Interscholastic Association, plays second-seeded Kohala of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation today at 5 p.m., at Kalani.

Rough Riders sophomore forward Kaipo Pale scored 14 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead a balanced attack. Roosevelt out-rebounded Hanalani, 51-20, with 23 offensive rebounds.

"I kept telling them that if we play a team smaller than us, we have to crash the boards," said Roosevelt coach Steve Hathaway, who went deep into his bench to play 14 last night.

"I feel like I can go 10 deep, and it's not a big drop off at all," Hathaway said. "If guys have bad nights, I can put someone else in."

Roosevelt lists seven players 6-feet or taller; Hanalani has four. Pale and fellow Rough Rider forward Asten Koki are both 6-3.

After a slow start that featured numerous turnovers by both teams, the Rough Riders went on a tear in the final 2:45 of the first quarter, outscoring the Royals 9-4 to break a 4-all tie.

The Rough Riders extended their lead to 17-10 on a basket by Koki at the 5:30 mark of the second quarter. Hanalani pulled within three points three different times before the half, the last with 12 seconds remaining on a basket by junior guard PJ Minaya to make it 21-18.

The Royals (9-8) opened the second half with a 3-pointer by junior guard Darin Kamealoha to tie it at 21. Kamealoha, who scored a game-high 20 points, then drained another 3 to give Hanalani its first lead since 4-2. Roosevelt senior guard Lowen Kahooilihala answered with a 3 of his own to tie it at 24.

"When he (Kamealoha) started draining 3s, we didn't know what to do," Pale said. "We just grabbed the rebounds and ran. We've been doing it all season so it was nice to do it again tonight."

Led by Pale's six points, the Rough Riders went on an 8-1 run to regain the lead at 32-25, and held off the Royals for a 34-27 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

"I think there were three consecutive plays where we threw the ball away," Hanalani coach Rob Araki said. "And we ended up going down by eight points, and with our type of offense, it's hard to come back. And then they went to the zone and their guys were taller than us and we couldn't get shots."

After trading baskets to start the fourth, Roosevelt went on an 11-0 run to extend its lead to double digits, 49-32, with six points by Pale.

A basket by Hanalani junior forward John Suh with 1:12 left ended a nearly five-minute scoring drought by the Royals.

"Coach told us to pick it up at halftime," Pale said. "Hanalani is a good team but we felt like we weren't playing to our potential."

Reach Leila Wai at 535-2457 or lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.

HANALANI (9-8) 7 11 9 10 — 37

ROOSEVELT (13-5) 13 8 13 18 — 52

HANALANI — Andrew Kutaka 0, Darin Kamealoha 20, PJ Minaya 6, Matt Simbre 3, Matt Guerrero 2, Bryson Honda 0, Kyle Watanabe 0, John Suh 6, Andrew Rattanasamay 0. Totals 15 3-6 37.

ROOSEVELT — Kainoa Gasper 0, Bobby Chun 0, Clint Washington 7, Matthew Moe 4, Brandon Mitchell 3, Chaz Francisco 8, Chase Yogi 3, Reid Oshiro 2, Lowen Kahooilihala 5, Kalai Kalei 0, Kaipo Pale 14, Brendan Nakatani 0, Asten Koki 6, Johnson Delos Santos 0. Totals 23 3-7 52.

3-point goals: Hanalani 4 (Kamealoha 4). Roosevelt 3 (Washington, Mitchell, Kahooilihala).

KAILUA 77, SEABURY HALL 53:

Senior forward Kenny Ellis had 21 points and 11 rebounds as the Surfriders advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Junior guard Dylan Farias added 17 and senior guard Kauila Miller 13 for Kailua (15-3), the second team out of the O'ahu Interscholastic Association, which plays third-seeded Hawai'i Baptist Academy tonight at 7 p.m., at Kalani.

Sophomore guard Phelan Pagano scored 15 to pace the Spartans (10-6).

SEABURY HALL (10-6) 15 18 9 11 — 53

KAILUA (15-3) 17 21 18 21 — 77

SEABURY HALL — Garrett Wiseman 5, Kasen Dudley 0, Phelan Pagano 15, Dylan King 9, Michael Palmer 9, Forest Dein 2, Holden Awong 2, Jack Webber 2, Reynald Sorayama 3, Josh Chapple 6, Max Kapua 0, Chris Ferrer 0. Totals 15 16-24 53.

KAILUA — Chevy Mikaele 0, Calen Friel 2, Rhys Nakakura 7, Kauila Miller 13, Dylan Farias 17, Kenny Ellis 21, Corey Lau 5, Luis Valenzuela 0, Alii Kaiama 6, Tesi Fisilau 2, Jordan Decorte 4. Totals 32 9-17 77.

3-point goals: Seabury Hall 7 (Pagano 2, King 2, Wiseman, Palmer, Sorayama). Seabury 4 (Farias, Lau, Miller, Nakakura).

PAHOA 48, UNIVERSITY HIGH 45:

Senior guard/forward Jonathan Viernes scored 33 points and had 13 rebounds to lift the Daggers past the Junior Rainbows and advance to the quarterfinals to play fourth-seeded Moloka'i today at 5 p.m., at Farrington.

The Daggers, the second team out of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, improved to 10-4.

Dylan Gomez scored 28 points for University High (12-3) and Kelekolio grabbed 10 rebounds.

PAHOA (10-4) 9 10 16 13 — 48

UNIVERSITY HIGH (13-2) 11 7 13 14 — 45

PAHOA — Chris Mendoza 5, Jonathan Viernes 33, Dustin Sakoda 0, John Byrd 1, Sheyten Waters 6, Sonny Miguel 0, Ricky Corpuz 1, Hamlet Walsh 0, Kaohu Schweitzer 2. Totals 17-31 10-21 48.

UNIVERSITY HIGH — Adam Oshiro 6, Noah Chong Viernes 5, Kelekolio Copp 4, Dylan Gomez 28, Benjamin Keller 2, Micah Ganiron 0, Gavin Vestal 0, Ian Akamine 0, Kent Morita 0, Scott Awaya 0, Nalu O'Connor 0. Totals 19-53 3-7 45.

3-point goals: Pahoa 4 (Viernes 3, Mendoza,). University High 4 (Gomez 3, Chong-Viernes).

KAPA'A 66, WORD OF LIFE 58:

Senior guard Kekoa Prem scored a game-high 24 points to go along with 12 rebounds as the Warriors (7-3) advanced to play top-seeded Castle in the quarterfinals tonight at 7 p.m., at Farrington.

Senior center Brad Foster and freshman guard David Daniels scored 23 and 11 points, respectively, for the Firebrands (9-6).

WORD OF LIFE (9-6) 17 16 10 15 — 58

KAPA'A (7-3) 16 18 10 22 — 66

WORD OF LIFE — Raffi Torres 0, Ryan Alvarado 2, Kendell Ching 2, Ralph Aviles Jr. 8, David Daniels 11, Brad Foster 23, Gabe Miller 8, Issac Iwamoto 0, Kahu Moriani 1, Mackenzie Togafua 0, Cobey Young-Bailey 3, TJ Russell 0. Totals 22 6-12 58.

KAPA'A — Kekoa Prem 24, Cody Abigania 6, Kekoa Colipano 7, Thomas Gausepohl 9, Duke Pauli 4, Kelvin Villavueva 1, Tommy Berry 1, Stephen Greenleaf 6, Jin Wu 0, Jeff Harper 0, Sean Shigematsu 6, Jason Iloreta 0, James Padre 0, Viliami Masaniai 2, Lewis Lindsey 0. Totals 22 17-29 66.

3-point goals: Word of Life 8 (Daniels 3, Miller 2, Aviles 2, Young-Bailey). Word of Life 5 (Prem 2, Colipano 2, Gausepohl).