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Wednesday, April 26, 2000

Kalaheo may
lose star girls’
hoops player

Richardson may move with her
family to the mainland
this summer

Mid-Pacific can't
keep Iolani down

By Dave Reardon
Star-Bulletin

The top girls' high school basketball player in Hawaii may play her senior season next year in Anaheim, Calif.

But contrary to rumors, if Kalaheo's Brandy Richardson does move this summer it will be for family reasons, not athletics.

"It has nothing to do with basketball," said Richardson, the Star-Bulletin's Ms. Basketball Hawaii as a sophomore in 1999. "Basketball here is really going good."

Richardson, a 5-foot-11 forward, led No. 2-ranked Kalaheo to a 9-0 record in the Oahu Interscholastic Association's Eastern Division this season.

The Mustangs are favored to defend their OIA championship as the league tournament begins tomorrow.

Kalaheo, which has a first-round bye, plays the winner of tomorrow's Aiea-Kalani game on Friday at Kalaheo.

It could be one of the last few high school games in Hawaii for the state's best all-around player.

Richardson said her older sister just had a baby, and her grandfather is ill. They live in Anaheim, and Richardson's mother, Luana, is planning on moving there in July to help out.

"There's no final decision yet, but my mom and brothers will probably move," she said. "I don't want to go, and I might get to stay here."

Kalaheo coach Chico Furtado said losing Richardson would hurt his team on the court, but there are more important issues involved.

"It's not about Kalaheo basketball. I told her I just want her to be happy and make good decisions," Furtado said. "No doubt it would leave us with some patchwork, but we can treat it like she's a senior."

Richardson is being recruited by many Division I schools, the most persistent being powerhouse Rutgers. Tennessee also has contacted her.

Kalaheo boys' standout Julian Sensley left Hawaii last year after his junior season to go to St. Thomas More prep school in Connecticut, which has a high-visibility basketball program.

The highly recruited Sensley, who has verbally committed to Cal, has one more year at St. Thomas More.

---

Mid-Pacific can’t
keep Iolani down

Star-Bulletin staff

Iolani came back from being shut out in the first quarter to beat Mid-Pacific, 57-54, in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls' basketball game last night at the Raiders' gym.

Monica Tokoro scored 17 points to lead No. 9 Iolani (8-4). Jade Savusa of Mid-Pacific (5-6) paced the Owls with 20 points.

Iolani	0	22	15	20--57
Mid-Pacific	13	16	13	12--54

Iolani: Trisha Nishimoto 3, Monica Tokoro 17, Kari Hayashi 4, Noelle Izumi 10, Keri Tomomitsu 11, Elyssa Street 1, Mitzi Ing 0, Fabriann Gin 11.

Mid-Pacific: Kristi Hamada 1, Rosella Leonhardt 0, Erika Sayson 4, Kimberly Hee 0, Shannon Nishi 9, Ashley Watamura 10, Stephanie Toshi 1, Christina Hee 7, Caroline Beddow 2, Jade Savusa 20.

3-point goals--Iolani 1 (Tokoro), Mid-Pacific 3 (Nishi 2, Savusa).

ST. FRANCIS 51, LA PIETRA 42:

The Troubadours got 21 points from Elizabeth Narkon as they clinched their third-consecutive ILH Division II championship.

St. Francis (12-1) rebounded from having its 31-game league winning streak snapped by Kamehameha on Saturday.

La Pietra fell to 6-7.