Second-half surge power the Radford Rams over the Pearl City Chargers, 59-40
BY MICHAEL LASQUERO | HSRN
PUBLISHED JAN 11, 2024
PEARL CITY — This was a tale of two halves.
Visiting Radford earned its fifth straight win with a commanding 59-40 win over Pearl City Wednesday night in OIA West play.
The Rams (12-2 overall, 6-1 league) trailed by four points at the break, but outscored the Chargers, 36 to 13, in the second half to win the game.
Senior guard Jirah Villanueva led all scorers with 23 points and was named the ‘Yeah U Player of the Game’ for her efforts.
Julissa Bollinger followed with 13 points and Kourtney Smith was a presence in the paint with 10 points to round out the top scorers for Radford.
The Rams had the early lead and took a 13-9 advantage after the opening quarter, but energy and hustle by the Chargers’ bench saw them lead by as many as eight points in the second quarter as the home team took a 27-23 lead at the break.
The second half was the opposite story.
While Pearl City was solid defensively in the second quarter, Radford was the one being stingy after halftime as they held the Chargers without a field goal in the third quarter. The Rams also scored 16 points in the frame while holding Pearl City to just two points.
Reserve guard Lyla Matthews was key with her defense against Pearl City guard Aiesha DeWeever while adding six points with a handful of steals.
The Chargers (7-4, 4-3), who dropped their third straight game, was led by Shilee Scanlan’s 13 points in the loss.
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