Wednesday, July 8, 1998

Punahou assistant Taylor
takes over at Maryknoll

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

Mike Taylor, who helped coach Punahou to girls' state high school basketball championships in 1997 and 1998, has been named head coach of the girls' varsity team at Maryknoll High School.

The 26-year-old Taylor will take over a team that returns one of the top players in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu -- 5-foot-6 all-star point guard Michelle Gabriel.

Other key returning starters are 5-10 post player Nabossa Basse and defensive specialist Denby Fukuda.

Basse was reportedly planning to transfer to Mililani High, but has decided to stay at Maryknoll, strengthening the Spartans' position for the 1999 season.

Taylor spent the last three years as an assistant to Punahou head varsity coach Shelley Fey, who has been the Star-Bulletin's all-state coach of the year the past two seasons.

"Mike is a very good student of the game," Fey said. "He did a lot of game strategy for us, did a lot of the practices and organizing on court."

Taylor said it will feel strange coaching against Fey and her staff.

"It's because of what we've gone through the last few years, getting to know each other, finding a comfort level as to who is strong at what points," he said.

Punahou lost only three games this past season. The only ILH loss was to Maryknoll.

The other two losses came to Oahu Interscholastic Association champion Kalaheo High, which eventually lost to Punahou in the state final.

Kalaheo's Chico Furtado, who was named OIA East Division coach of the year, works as a guidance counselor at Maryknoll.

Taylor, who played backup point guard on the 1990 Punahou boys' state championship team, is a graduate of the University of Hawaii.

He coached at Punahou throughout college, handling the intermediate girls' team for two seasons and the girls' junior varsity for three seasons.

Taylor teaches at Waialae Elementary School, and his wife, Noelle, is a teacher at Noelani Elementary School.