PUKALANI, Maui — The Lahainaluna High School girls basketball team won its Maui Interscholastic League opener last night, and in a big way.

The Lunas got 33 points from Rachael Rickard and beat King Kekaulike 62-21 at Na Ali'i's gym.

''I just dropped the rebounds, put it back in and scored the basket,'' said Rickard. ''Fast breaks, that's how I got all my baskets.''

Lunas coach Todd Rickard, whose team placed sixth in last season's Division I state tournament, saw room to improve.

''We looked sloppy,'' he said. ''We had sloppy passes, we had a lot of traveling on our part. We weren't securing the ball. Defensively, we never get out in time quick enough. We weren't helping out on the penetration. I guess they were just content with the way they were and they just played that way.''

The Lunas led 19-5 after one quarter, and used a 15-0 run in the second to go in front 33-7.

Lahainaluna had a 38-11 advantage at halftime. Na Ali'i's Leah Hashimoto opened the second-half scoring with a 3-pointer, but the Lunas answered with 13 straight points — seven from Rickard — and led 51-16 going into the fourth quarter.

Briana Carillo scored 10 points for Na Ali'i.

King Kekaulike coach Steve Dumlao expected a challenge.

''We knew we had a task tonight playing the four-time MIL champions,'' he said. ''I was real proud of the girls. They were really loose tonight. They never gave up. They played hard.''

Todd Rickard said the Lunas need to focus on the basics.

''A lot of fundamentals about taking care of the ball, running our offensive sets, moving the ball around a little bit better,'' he said. ''Sometimes our offensive looks a little bit stagnant and it just stays still. And most of all our guards have got to learn how to penetrate. That is number one.''

King Kekaulike did not have a field goal in the second quarter, but went 6-for-7 from the foul line.

''We had to improve on our free throws,'' Dumlao said. ''We shot a real low percentage in our first game of the season (a 35-29 loss to Kamehameha-Maui on Saturday), so we got back to the core and our free throws improved tonight.''

Said Carillo: ''Saturday night I was missing free throws like crazy. So Sunday's practice I kept shooting and shooting, like, 200 shots. It really helped. We were more confident at this game. We played smarter.''

BALDWIN 41, MAUI 29

Shauna Ah Yen led the Bears with 15 points, including nine in the first quarter, in the MIL opener for both teams. Allyssa Ferrer and Cheyla Vega each scored eight points to lead the host Sabers.