Tuesday, May 22, 2001
Aiea makes Aiea's Na Alii are truly royalty after pulling off one of the biggest upsets in Hawaii girls basketball history.
a State-ment
Na Alii use strong defense to
Keying on Richardson By Grace Wen
shut down the Mustang offense
and win first state title
Star-BulletinBefore a crowd of 2,044 at the Stan Sheriff Center, Na Alii earned its first state girls basketball title by upsetting Kalaheo, 52-45, in the Hawaiian Airlines State Championship.
The victory came a week after suffering a 16-point loss to Kalaheo in the Oahu Interscholastic Association title game.
"We redeemed ourselves," Aiea forward Aritta Lane said. "We showed everyone what we can do."
Defense was the difference as Na Alii held Brandy Richardson to just 16 points, after she scorched them for a career-high 41 points in the OIA title game.
Aiea outrebounded Kalaheo, 36-19, including three offensive rebounds that it converted for baskets during a 7-0 run in the fourth quarter.
That gave Na Alii a 43-37 lead with 4:15 left. It was a lead they would not relinquish.
In addition to offensive rebounding, defense keyed the win.
"We did a little changing around," Aiea coach Fran Villarmia-Kahawai said. "We played man, we played tempo, triangle, diamond. Kalaheo wasn't sure what to do. We wanted to keep our people inside the paint. We had to sacrifice our offense for defense."
Lane sacrificed somewhat on offense, scoring 14 points. But Kylee Nakamura and Keesha Aldridge picked up the scoring for Aiea. Nakamura led the way with 16 points including three 3-pointers. Aldridge chipped in 14 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.
"We wanted to win off of easy shots," Lane said. "If I wasn't going to be open, Keesha was going to be open. Let her go for it."
Aiea scored first off of two free throws by Lane. Aldridge added two more from the charity stripe and Nakamura hit a 3-pointer from 22 feet out. Na Alii held a 7-4 lead, but a 3-pointer by Bre Carson knotted the score. Aldridge added four more points in the first quarter.
The Mustangs were hurt on the boards when Heather Gonsalves picked up her second foul with 4:56 left in the first quarter.
Kalaheo opened the second quarter with an 8-3 run. Nicole Furtado buried back-to-back three pointers as the Mustangs took a 17-16 lead, their first of the game, with 4:12 left in the quarter. Lane picked up three fouls within a minute but Nakamura had a steal and layup on the ensuing play to put Aiea back up by a point.
"Every time we seemed to get caught up, we just weren't able to get over the hump," Kalaheo coach Chico Furtado said. "We lost the battle in the paint."
Nakamura hit another trey and an 18-foot jumper to give Na Alii a 23-20 lead going into the half.
"We weren't hitting shots when they counted," Richardson said. "And they made some big shots and we didn't box out. Someone has to come out losing, too bad it has to be right here."
1977: Maryknoll; 1978: Maryknoll; 1979: Punahou; 1980: Punahou; 1981: Punahou; 1982: University; 1983: Kahuku; 1984: University; 1985: Waiakea; 1986: Waiakea; 1987: Iolani; 1988: Kamehameha; 1989: Iolani; 1990: Kamehameha; State champions
1991: Kamehameha; 1992: Kamehameha; 1993: Kamehameha; 1994: Punahou; 1995: Iolani; 1996: Iolani; 1997: Punahou; 1998: Punahou; 1999: Kamehameha; 2000: Kamehameha; 2001: Aiea.
Aiea 52, Kalaheo 45
Mustangs (15-1)
fg fga ft fta reb a tp min Carson 1 9 0 0 1 5 3 22 Hatori 3 5 0 0 3 0 6 8 Richardson 7 15 2 6 6 1 16 32 Benson 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 10 Lagapa 2 4 0 0 1 0 6 16 Gonsalves 1 5 0 0 4 3 2 22 Furtado 4 7 0 0 2 1 12 32 Fritzsche 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 18 Team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 18 47 2 6 19 11 45 160 Na Alii (14-1)
fg fga ft fta reb a tp min Dias 1 4 0 0 3 0 3 32 Sugai 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 18 Nakamura 5 9 3 5 2 0 16 32 Colburn 1 2 3 6 5 0 5 14 Carrillo 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 7 Lane 5 17 4 4 11 3 14 25 Aldridge 5 9 4 4 11 1 14 32 Team 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Totals 17 42 14 19 36 6 52 160 Key--fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime-Aiea 23, Kalaheo 20.
3-point goals--Kalaheo 7-20 (Furtado 4-6, Lagapa 2-4, Carson 1-8, Richardson 0-2); Aiea 4-7 (Nakamura 3-6, Dias 1-1). Personal fouls--Kalaheo 18, Aiea 11. Fouled out--none. Technical fouls--none.
Steals--Kalaheo 7 (Richardson 2, Furtado 2, Benson, Lagapa, Gonsalves), Aiea 3 (Dias, Nakamura, Lane). Blocked shots--Kalaheo 3 (Richardson 2, Fritzche), Aiea 2 (Lane 2). Turnovers--Kalaheo 8, Aiea 6.
Officials--Mamiya, Yoshida, Apo. A--2,044.
How did Aiea's Na Alii overcome the odds to beat the heavily favored Kalaheo Mustangs, 52-45, for the Hawaiian Airlines State Girls Basketball Championship last night at the Stan Sheriff Center? Aiea keyed
By Dave Reardon
on Richardson
Star-BulletinKalaheo had beaten Aiea, 67-51, last Wednesday for the Oahu Interscholastic Association championship. Kalaheo's Brandy Richardson, perhaps the best girls player in state high school history, scored a career-high 41 points in that game.
But last night, Aiea limited Richardson to 16 points, including only three in the first half when Richardson made 1-of-5 shots from the floor.
Na Alii made several important adjustments, especially on defense. They threw everything at Kalaheo -- full-court pressure, man-to-man, basic zones, diamond-and-one -- all with one goal: stop Richardson, or at least slow her down.
"We wanted to get Brandy tired," said Aiea forward Aritta Lane, who guarded Richardson as she brought the ball up and was among several players who watched Richardson's every move in the post area. "We wanted to work her hard in the first half and take it from there."
It worked to perfection.
Aiea led 23-20 at halftime, as sharpshooting guard Kylee Nakamura scored 13 of her team-high 16 points, including three 3-pointers.
Richardson's first-half shots included an airball and a blocked shot by Lane.
"We wanted to slow her down before she goes off on us like last game," Aiea coach Fran Villarmia-Kahawai said.
Richardson finishes her career with four OIA titles, but no state crowns in three championship appearances. She tried to bring Kalaheo back in the second half, hitting short-range shots over two and three defenders. But it wasn't enough.
"(Aiea) played hard and did a good job on the defensive end," Richardson said through tears afterward. "They made their free throws and hit the glass hard. We weren't getting the calls on the inside."
When it had the ball, Aiea spread the floor with motion and flex offenses. That let Nakamura use her quickness to penetrate and dish to Lane and Keesha Aldridge, who each scored 14 points.
It also helped Aldridge and Lane get 11 rebounds each. The twin towers ended up with nearly identical stats -- both made five baskets, went 4-for-4 from the line and committed three fouls. Their rebounding breakdown was also identical: six offensive and five defensive for both.
"We did a poor job of blocking out on the defensive end," Kalaheo coach Chico Furtado said.
"When they were on defense they packed it in much more this time. I think their game plan was good and they executed it well."
Aiea's first state championship is all the sweeter for Villarmia-Kahawai, as she is a product of the program. The former University of Hawaii guard is a 1987 Aiea graduate. Aiea lost to Farrington for the OIA title and fell to Iolani in a state semifinal her senior year.
"I always wanted to come back and give back," Villarmia-Kahawai said. "Basketball allowed me a chance to play in college."
Villarmia-Kahawai got to share the victory immediately with her mentor and former coach, Rodney Cavaco, and her husband, Shawn Kahawai. They, along with Steven Ichioka, are her assistant coaches.
"They provided a lot of input (in the game plan)," Villarmia-Kahawai said.
Hawaii School Web Sites