East looks
to continue
playoff dominance

McKinley or Kalaheo have won
the last 7 OIA championships

Game schedule

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By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com

Over the last quarter-century, predicting the outcome of the Oahu Interscholastic Association girls basketball tournament has come down to a simple concept -- look East.

In 25 OIA tournaments, teams from the OIA Eastern Division have walked away with the championship all but five times, and the lopsided history of the tournament isn't lost on the teams representing Oahu's western half in this year's event.

"The girls know it," Pearl City coach Mike Morton said. "They see the East as a little bit stronger and they want to prove that they can play with the East. They're looking forward to getting into the playoffs and hopefully getting into states."

The OIA tournament opens tomorrow with first-round games at Kahuku and Leilehua. The top two seeds in each division have byes into Saturday's quarterfinals, where they face the first-round winners. Saturday's survivors not only advance to the semifinals, but earn state tournament berths as well.

The semifinals are set for Tuesday at the homes of the highest remaining seeds. The third-place and championship games are May 10 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

McKinley and Pearl City enter the tournament as the top seeds from the OIA East and West, despite having just four seniors between them.

Morton prepared his squad for the regular season by stacking his preseason schedule with OIA East competition. Pearl City (9-1) opened the year with a scrimmage against Kalani and played four-time defending league champion Kalaheo and Moanalua before entering the OIA West schedule.

"It definitely helped us and we just keep on improving every week," Morton said. "Playing those tough teams in hard situations really gave us experience and hopefully we'll be ready."

McKinley went 9-1 in the East by pulling out several tight contests. But history is on the Tigers' side, as the OIA East champion has won the tournament each of the last seven years.

"If I'm looking for an advantage that would be it," McKinley coach Jesse Victorino said. "Other than that it's a brand new season and it's anybody's game. Over the past seven or eight years, this is probably the most evenly balanced tournament we've had."

The Tigers are led by junior forward Amber Lee, who led the league in scoring with 17.8 points per game. But the Tigers will also need the outside shooting of guards Chyloh Rodrigues and Rayna Isaki to ease the burden on Lee.

"They've come to realize if they pick up their game the defense has to extend on them, and that opens Amber up again," Victorino said.

Kalaheo entered the last four tournaments as the heavy favorite and followed through with four consecutive titles. The Mustangs stumbled twice this season, but were able to finish second in the division behind the inside scoring of Latoya Wily and Brina Fritzche.

Although Kalaheo and McKinley have combined to win the last seven league championships, there have been enough upsets this spring to keep the coaches from taking anything for granted.

"I feel good about our chances," Kalaheo coach Chico Furtado said. "At the same time, there's not a team out there that can say they're not vulnerable. On any given night anything can happen."

The other four OIA East entrants have the weapons to make a run at the title.

Kalani's guard tandem of Ashley Takata and Chenty Bonifacio has combined to score more than 25 points per game. Kaimuki's Dalia Solia finished second in the division in scoring and led the league in 3-point goals with 19. And Victorino calls Kahuku the most balanced team in the tournament.

Moanalua hobbles into the playoffs after leading scorer Patti Hardimon sustained an ankle injury last week.

Pearl City and Campbell both finished the season 9-1 thanks to balanced attacks and stubborn defense.

Leilehua senior guard Heidi Garcia led the Mules to a third-place finish in the division with 12.6 points per game.

Aiea, last year's tournament runner-up and the defending state champion, went 7-3 this season by slowing down the tempo of its games. Radford finished the season strong, with senior guard Heather Massey averaging 17 points in the Rams' last five games.

Of the six OIA West teams in the tournament, only sixth-seeded Waianae can claim an OIA championship in its history (1984).

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OIA varsity girls basketball championship Tomorrow At Kahuku H.S. gym Radford (OIA West No. 4 seed) vs. Moanalua (OIA East 5), 5 p.m. Kahuku (OIA East 3) vs. Waianae (OIA West 6), 6:30 p.m. At Leilehua H.S. gym Kalani (OIA East 4) vs. Aiea (OIA West 5), 5 p.m. Leilehua (OIA West 3) vs. Kaimuki (OIA East 6), 6:30 p.m. Saturday At McKinley H.S. gym Kahuku/Waianae winner vs. Campbell (OIA West 2), 5 p.m. Radford/Moanalua winner vs. McKinley (OIA East 1), 6:30 p.m. At Pearl City H.S. gym Kaimuki/Leilehua winner vs. Kalaheo (OIA East 2), 5 p.m. Aiea/Kalani winner vs. Pearl City (OIA West 1), 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 7 Semifinals -- quarterfinal winners at highest remaining seed. Friday, May 10 At Stan Sheriff Center Third-place game, 5 p.m. Championship game, 7 p.m.

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