The Kalani girls basketball team went to defensive extremes to beat previously unbeaten and No. 3 Radford last night for the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red Conference title.

In the first half, the No. 6 Falcons found success with a tightly packed 2-3 zone. In the second, it was a three-quarter-court press.

The stellar defensive effort led Kalani to a 35-27 victory over Radford in the tournament final at McKinley.

"Some of the girls in this program have won an OIA White (Division II) title, and we've been talking about getting to this point all year," said Kalani first-year coach George Weeks.

Iwalani Rodrigues had 12 points, six rebounds and two steals for East champion Kalani.

"I understand it's a team game, but, boy, she makes your team better," Weeks said.

It was the third OIA girls basketball title for Rodrigues, with the previous two coming at Roosevelt.

"This one feels even more extraordinary because I transferred schools and it's my senior year," Rodrigues said. "I just want to thank the girls. They welcomed me with open arms."

In the first half, Kalani (13-2) really packed in its 2-3 zone to contain Radford 6-foot center Ta Nitra Byrd.

The Falcons' front line was Rodrigues (5-foot-9), Rhianna Farm (6-0) and Violet Alama (6-0).

"We were so concerned with Byrd in there," Weeks said. "That really was the concern. We didn't want them to prove they couldn't shoot. It was more so we just respected Byrd so much."

The Rams were 8 of 24 from the field in the first half with most of their attempts from the perimeter.

"We knew they were going to play us in a zone," said first-year Radford coach Tani Dutro. "We told our girls to shoot and rebound. It wasn't our night on the offensive end. We couldn't hit those outside shots."

Kalani, which led 19-16 at halftime, opened the second half with a three-quarter-court press, and went on an 8-0 run to take its largest lead at 27-16 with 4:40 left in the third.

"We wanted to run them up and down the court and get them tired," Alama said.

Radford, the West champion, committed nine turnovers over the first 5:15 of the third. On the rare occasions the Rams got past the press, Kalani dropped back into a 2-3 zone.

Radford (14-1) got as close as 29-25 after a three-point play by Marlena Malepeai with 6:06 left.

Rodrigues sealed the victory by making 4 of 4 free throws in the final 55 seconds.

Kalani and Radford had already qualified for next week's Division I state tournament.

Marsharen Dupont and Byrd each scored six for Radford.

RADFORD (14-1) 4 12 4 7 — 27

KALANI (13-2) 8 11 8 8 — 35

RADFORD — Itali Lindsey 2, Bui Baravilala 0, Marlena Malepeai 5, Brittini Fuller 4, Chelsea-Ann Villanueva 4, Marsharen Dupont 6, Ta Nitra Byrd 6. Totals 12 3-5 27.

KALANI — Chloe Martin 3, Brandi Yamauchi 0, Iwalani Rodrigues 12, Ashlyn Onaga 9, Rhianna Farm 5, Jamie Higa 2, Violet Alama 4, Tiare Maafala 0. Totals 14 5-5 35.

3-point goals: Kalani 2 (Onaga, Martin).

OIA GIRLS WHITE

CAMPBELL 35, CASTLE 32

Kaitlynn Simmonds made a jumper from the free-throw line with 2 minutes remaining and a free throw with 39 seconds left to account for the only points in overtime as the Sabers beat the Knights for third place.

CAMPBELL (15-1) 8 10 9 5 3 — 35

CASTLE (8-8) 6 10 8 8 0 — 32

CAMPBELL — Ama Lui 0, Jazmin Brown 0, Ariel Medlin 5, Vai Confer 2, Aloha Dias-Kekahuna 14, Amber Kaulia 7, Kaitlynn Simmonds 7. Totals 12 11-21 35.

CASTLE — Kori Berinobis 8, Candy Ames 2, Niki Kobashigawa 6, Leisha Li'ili'i 10, Leesha Domingo 4, Kree Espinda 2. Totals 11 9-13 32.

3-point goals: Castle 1 (Berinobis).

Reported by Jeff McKeown

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.