Sunday, May 20, 2001
[ PREP BASKETBALL ]
AIEA'S TWIN TOWERS -- Aritta Lane and Keesha Aldridge -- dominated last night's second semifinal as Na Alii upset top-seeded Punahou, 63-54, in the Hawaiian Airlines HHSAA State Girls Basketball Tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center. Aiea upsets No. 1
seed PunahouBy Grace Wen
Star-BulletinAiea (13-1), making its first-ever state title game appearance, will face Kalaheo (15-0) at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Sheriff Center.
The second-seeded Mustangs advanced to their second straight title game with a 64-52 win over Honokaa in last night's first semifinal.
It will be a rematch of last week's Oahu Interscholastic Association championship won by Kalaheo. It will also be the first time in 18 years that the OIA will claim a state title.
Lane scored 35 points, including 23 in the second half, and had 19 rebounds. Aldridge added 13 points and four rebounds.
Na Alii opened the second half with a 17-8 run to erase Punahou's 23-21 halftime lead. Kylee Nakamura's steal and layup off a Punahou inbounds pass sparked the run.
"It changed the momentum," Aiea coach Fran Villarmia-Kahawai said. "They (Punahou) looked up and the score was tied. For us, it picked us up on defense. We knew that if we buckled down, stopped Milia (Macfarlane), and rebounded the ball we'd have a good chance."
Macfarlane was held to only one basket in the second half and only one 3-pointer the entire game. She finished the night as Punahou's top scorer with 15 points.
At Stan Sheriff Center
Aiea: Aritta Lane 35, Keesha Aldridge 13, Kylee Nakamura 9, Jasmine Dias 6, Joelle Sugai 0, Karina Koda 0, Tiffany Seiki 0, Noelani Colburn 0, Chanelle Takemoto 0, Rubi Carrillo 0, Minuett Kauiwailani 0.
Punahou: Milia Macfarlane 15, Elyse Umeda 14, Caroline Ane 11, Becky Hogue 4, Misha Lam 4, Darci Murakawa 3, Nicole Jones 3, Rachel kane 0, Megan Abbott 0, Kelly Karns 0, Kira Kashiwa 0.
Aiea 8 13 25 17 -- 63 Punahou 11 12 17 14 -- 54 3-pointers--Aiea (2): Dias, Nakamura. Punahou (3): Umeda, Macfarlane, Murakawa.
Kalaheo 64, Honokaa 52:
It wasn't Kalaheo's most dominating performance, but the Mustangs didn't need it.Brandy Richardson scored the first basket and dominated throughout the game, posting 29 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
But perhaps it was her aura more than anything that did the trick.
"We didn't do the job we needed to do," Honokaa coach Daphne Honma said. "Some of our kids were not ready. We talked about not letting (Richardson) have things easy. I don't know if it was the fact that they were playing against Brandy Richardson that got them intimidated. But the other thing was that she stepped it up. I haven't seen her play this tough in a while."
At Stan Sheriff Center
Honokaa (57): Myrna Ordonez 9, Kami Shigematsu 15, Malia Ah Loy 7, Erica Tadio 12, Maile Mangauil 2, Kellie Iramina 0, Amber Salvador 0, Jolene Hinds 7.
Kalaheo (64): Bre Carson 5, Brandy Richardson 29, Heather Gonsalves 16, Nicole Furtado 6, Brina Fritzsche 3, Stacy Wright 0, Kaleua Hatori 0, Brandi Benson 2, Natasha Lagapa 1, Dawnelle Nahinu 0, Kira Withy-Allen 2.
Honokaa 8 14 11 19 52 Kalaheo 18 12 19 15 64 3-pointers-Honokaa 6 (Kami Shigematsu 5, Erica Tadio 1), Kalaheo 2 (Furtado 2).
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