Kailua’s wake-up call came after 8 p.m. on Friday.

Struggling with Kaimuki’s fullcourt pressure for a half, the eighth-ranked Surfriders rode to a 15-5 run in the third quarter en route to a 53-30 win over the Bulldogs.

Kailua improved to 7-0 in OIA East play (8-1 overall) behind Jonny Philbrick’s 20 points. Noa Donnelly, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, had 16 rebounds to go with eight points, and Ethan Kunz added 10 points and five boards for the first-place squad. It was 21-18 at halftime as the Bulldogs used fullcourt pressure to stay close.

“Credit Kaimuki. They played a heck of a defense. Good job by the coach (Greydon Espinda),” Kailua coach Walter Marciel said. “We left a lot of points on the table. We missed at the free-throw line, our guys were changing their shots. We started to dribble more than run our offense, but that’s all credit to how Kaimuki played their defense.”

Malu Cleveland led Kaimuki with nine points and six rebounds, but committed his fourth personal foul with 2:25 left in the third quarter. The home team never recovered as Kailua’s swarming press did its work.

“We played a good first half. We’ve just got to play a complete game,” Espinda said.

Kaimuki, contending for the OIA D-II title, dropped to 3-4 in East play (6-4 overall).

The wake-up call came at halftime as veteran assistant coach Chuck Auld gave the Surfriders an old-fashioned talking to.

“His message was clear, that we needed to play better. We weren’t playing at the level we should be,” Marciel said. “He brought back the intensity for the second half. Our guys didn’t get a game on Wednesday, so we worked out all week. I was hoping our guys would come out hungry, but we came out flat.”

The Bulldogs struggled to score in the opening quarter, but got within 8-5 on Daysen Lupica’s steal and layup to beat the buzzer.

Kailua’s mobile big men were too much for Kaimuki shot blocker Malu Cleveland at times. Cleveland swatted a shot by Kunz, only to see Donnelly score on the put back. After Philbrick hit a jumper in the lane, the visitors had a 12-5 lead.

Kaimuki persisted with a fullcourt press and got within 19-18 on a steal and layup by Kenny Eaton. The Surfriders led 21-18 at the half.

Then came a 10-0 run by Kailua out of the gate. Reece Matsukawa splashed a wing 3, Japheth Lilo banked in an 8-footer, Philbrick swished a 3 and Roscoe Eddins fed Philbrick for a transition bucket to give Kailua a 31-18 lead.

Hampered by a sore knee, the normally high-flying Cleveland returned briefly with four minutes left in the game.

Kailua won the junior varsity game 55-54.