Thursday, April 23, 1998

Sophomore Robynn Afe
is a force in the middle for the
Farrington girls' basketball team

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

SHE'S No. 53 with the long braids bouncing against the back of her maroon singlet. At 5-foot-11, you can't miss her under the hoop.

With the basketball, she draws defenders like flies. Without it, she's a wall that can't be scaled.

But there's more to Robynn Afe than just size.

She's got the shot, averaging 25 points per game.

She's got the rebounding ability, averaging 14.6 boards per game.

By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Farrington's Robynn Afe (53) is a strong all-around player.

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And she's obviously got the athletic genes as the niece of former NFL All-Pro Mosi Tatupu.

But those are all incidental factors to Farrington High School's sophomore star.

"The first two years of basketball I figure are for fun, and then the next two I will get more serious," she said.

Serious, huh?

Well, when her young Governors' team (4-3) matures and Afe learns better footwork, better shot-blocking skills, a few more moves and has better control on the break, the Oahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division could be in for a shock.

Afe, who was only voted a second-team division all-star last season despite averaging close to 20 points a game for a winless team, has the potential to develop into a dominating low-post player.

"What makes her effective is that she is not just a big, strong kid," said Chico Furtado, head coach of unbeaten Kalaheo. "She has agility and a nice touch around the basket."

Bobby Keanini, head coach of Roosevelt, the only team to hold Afe under 20 points this season, likes her speed.

"At a full sprint, she's faster than anybody on the court," he said.

Though he found a way to limit her production in beating Farrington on Tuesday night, Keanini said Afe can still wreak havoc with a defensive scheme.

By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Robynn Afe puts up a shot over Kalani's Lynn Hirakara
during a game earlier this month. Afe is averaging 25 points
and 14.6 rebounds per game this season for
the Farrington Governors.

---

"She breaks the press most of the time and they get the ball to her," he said.

"Robynn can really shoot the ball in the low post and dribble, too," said 5-11 teammate Anna Mateaki, Farrington's only senior starter. "She's not scared of anybody in the low post."

"She's usually most effective within 15 feet of the basket, going to the basket," Farrington second-year head coach Jenic Tumaneng said.

"I'm trying to work on my lefty shot," said Afe, revealing that she's going to be a "switch-hitter" in 1999. "I'm a natural right-hander and I haven't tried the lefty in a game yet."

Afe, who lives on the Farrington campus with her parents, school custodians Mu and Sina, said that her first love was volleyball. She has played middle blocker at Farrington for two seasons, but without all-star recognition.

Although she plays with an obvious joie de vivre, grinning broadly every time she comes up with a rebound, Afe realizes that basketball could get her a Division I scholarship.

"Basketball was supposed to just keep me in shape," she said. "I never thought it would turn out like this."

"She's dominating on the defensive side," Tumaneng said. "She not only getting the rebound, she's getting out on the break after the rebound. She's getting the outlet and she's getting ahead of that outlet."

It's a phase of the game Afe loves.

"I really enjoy fighting for the rebound because if we get it, we can run our plays and score," she said. "People lean and try to box me out, and I try to fight back."

Tumaneng said he enjoys coaching Afe because she listens to what she's told.

"Oh, the coaches have been so good and shown me so much I didn't know about," she said.