Monday, May 21, 2001
Chalk up a win for the Oahu Interscholastic Association. Girls championship
By Grace Wen
goes public tonight
Star-BulletinTonight an OIA school will take home the league's first state girls basketball title since Kahuku won in 1983.
Two OIA schools -- Kalaheo and Aiea -- meet in tonight's 7 p.m. final of the Hawaiian Airlines HHSAA State Girls Basketball Championship at the Stan Sheriff Center.
"I'm proud that the OIA has shown they can compete amongst the best," Kalaheo coach Chico Furtado said. "We always felt that there's a stigma against us with, 'The ILH this, the ILH that'."
The Interscholastic League of Honolulu has won 21 state titles since the tournament began in 1977 but will be watching from the sidelines this year.
Aiea knocked out the ILH's last team, Punahou, with a 63-54 semifinal victory Saturday night.
If Kalaheo wins tonight, it will become the third Hawaii school to win both the girls and boys basketball state championship in the same year. Punahou did it for three straight seasons from 1979 to 1981. Kamehameha did it in 1992.
Kalaheo would be the first OIA school to sweep state basketball titles. But the Mustangs first have to get past Na Alii.
If last Wednesday's OIA title game is any indication, Kalaheo is a heavy favorite. The Mustangs crushed Aiea, 67-51, for Kalaheo's fourth consecutive Oahu public school championship.
Na Alii have not beaten the Mustangs in the last three meetings. Kalaheo beat Aiea in the state quarterfinals two years ago and then knocked out Na Alii in last year's OIA playoffs.
But recent performances give Na Alii hope that they can win their first state title.
"We're looking forward to it," Aiea coach Fran Villarmia-Kahawai said. "We didn't play good at the OIA championship. The girls know it. Hopefully Brandy (Richardson) doesn't have a career night. But anything can happen.
"Nobody expected us to beat Punahou. I'm sure everybody doesn't expect us to beat Kalaheo. But we believe we can if we do the right things. We have nothing to lose. Nothing's really expected. There's no pressure on us."
To win, Aiea will definitely need to find a way to contain Richardson. The 6-foot senior scorched Na Alii from beyond the arc and inside the paint en route to a career-high 41 points.
Richardson's leadership and court presence also make the two-time Star-Bulletin Ms. Basketball invaluable.
"Brandy brings more than just numbers to our program," Furtado said. "She brings a lot of confidence to our players, a lot of leadership. Obviously we'll take the 29, 30 points anytime. But there's a time when she did catch the ball inside the post and she gave a nice lob to Heather (Gonsalves). She leads us in assists a lot."
The teams match up well both outside -- where Na Alii's Kylee Nakamura and the Mustangs' Nikki Furtado are shooting threats -- and inside -- where the battle between forwards Richardson and Aritta Lane of Aiea is intriguing.
Lane scored 35 points against Punahou and dominated the boards.
Though she was a little quiet in the OIA championship, Lane feels that tonight's contest will be different.
"I think that because it's our second chance, we're just going to go all out and do what we were supposed to do the first time," Lane said.
"I'm going to pressure her, she's going to pressure me. We're just going to see who will take over."
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