Everett Torres-Kahapea saw a lot resistance, as usual, but remained undeterred.

The senior guard poured in 30 points as No. 6 Kailua outlasted a depleted, but determined Kaiser squad 66-54 on Wednesday night at the Surfriders’ gym. Kailua improved to 4-0 in OIA East play (12-8 overall). Kaiser dropped to 2-2 despite a gritty effort and eight 3-pointers.

“It’s big. This is the best start we’ve had in awhile,” said Torres-Kahapea, who also had seven rebounds and hit four treys, mostly from NBA range on step-backs. “Hopefully, we can keep rolling with it, keep the momentum going.”

Isaiah Hopson hustled for 10 points and 10 rebounds while protecting the rim, and Lydell Romero added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

“Kaiser did a good job on Everett. They put a lot of pressure on our guards and that’s what kept them in the game,” Kailua coach Walter Marciel said.

Kailua’s full-court press had some success, but Marciel called it off by the second quarter

“We have one more game on Friday against Farrington, so we needed to save our legs,” he said.

Sophomore Mario Drummer led Division II Kaiser with 17 points, and Hunter Dias drilled three treys and finished with 13 points. Kenji Toyama saw tough defensive coverage all night and finished with 10 points. Kaiser had just seven turnovers.

“We wanted to force Everett into difficult shots. It was good defense, but he hit tough shots,” Kaiser coach Kenneth Powell said. “He’s hitting step-back James Harden 3s. He was just hot.”

Playing without center Cyrus Singelman, who Powell said was dismissed from the team for violating school policy, the visiting Cougars stayed close for the first few minutes before Kailua began to attack the paint. The home team opened the lead to 16-8 late in the first quarter, and after Torres-Kahapea went coast to coast for a layup and Romero hustled for a bucket, the lead was 22-10 early in the second quarter. After Robert Kanoa III scored inside and Torres-Kahapea splashed an NBA-range 3 from the top, the Surfriders led 37-19 shortly before halftime.

Kaiser got within eight late in the game as Kailua succumbed to some back-and-forth chirping in the second half and was whistled for two technical fouls. One of them was assessed on Torres-Kahapea.

“It was protective instincts. He got up in my teammate’s face, so I just wanted to back him up. I don’t want us looking like a soft team,” he said.