Be careful when you dismiss a team for being young. Young is a good word
to describe Kalahe’os
girls basketball teamBy Nick Abramo
nabramo@starbulletin.comThat was a tag word for the Kalaheo boys basketball team this winter. Despite the Mustangs' inexperience, they still managed to win another Oahu Interscholastic Association championship.
It's girls basketball season now, and the buzz word for this Kalaheo team is also a resounding "young."
"We have 10 freshmen and sophomores on our 14-man roster," Mustangs coach Chico Furtado said. "And of our top nine players, six are underclassmen."
Still, Furtado isn't letting that get in the way of a possible sixth consecutive OIA title.
"It's going to take some time to get it together," he said. "In the preseason, we've won the games I thought we should have won and we've lost games that were really good games for us."
The Mustangs lost to Iolani and Kamehameha twice each. Against both, the first defeats were by about 20 points. The second time around, the results were a lot better.
"We lost to Iolani by about five and to Kamehameha by two in a game that we were up by three with a minute left," Furtado said.
Kalaheo's youth has been somewhat overshadowed by mainland transfer Taylor Smith, who may turn out to be one of the state's top players.
"Taylor used to live here in the fifth, sixth and seventh grades," Furtado said. "She used to go to Pete Smith's camps. She played a year of varsity ball in Rhode Island and played in the AAU junior nationals, but her dad, who is in the Navy, was restationed (here) in December.
"She's very skilled. She's got a good medium jumper and she boards and defends well. She's kind of a finesse Brandy Richardson. It's not fair to compare her to Brandy (a former Mustangs three-time all-state player of the year), but she's left-handed like Brandy and might have a little more finesse, but not as much strength."
Third-year senior Brandy Benson is an experienced player, along with Shaina Siliga, Shantel Marumoto and Kaliko Kepa.
"We need some seasoning, but we're showing improvement," Furtado said. "That's why we scheduled some tough games in the preseason.
"It's going to be real tough to make it to the top six (and into the playoffs) in the OIA East. Kahuku is a beast and very big. We've got to deal with teams like Farrington, and Moanalua has four of their five starters back.
"We have to make sure we win games we're supposed to win and be in position to steal some of the ones that are borderline."
Former Buffanblu players back: The ILH is going Ivy.
Star-Bulletin 1998 Player of the Year Onaona Miller is back as an assistant coach at her alma mater. After a collegiate career at Yale, Miller is helping Buffanblu head coach Mike Taylor.
Miller isn't the only Ivy Leaguer returning. Lisa Kowal, a former Punahou standout who graduated in 1997 and went on to play at Harvard, is also an assistant for the Buffanblu.
"They've been terrific additions," Taylor said. "Not only on the court, but off the court, too. The kids are really gravitating toward these two. It's been fantastic."
Testimonial for Menehunes coach: Waimea is giving a testimonial for outgoing football coach Jon Kobayashi on Saturday night at 5 at Wong's Restaurant in Hanapepe on Kauai.
Former University of Hawaii athletic director Hugh Yoshida is the keynote speaker.
Kobayashi stepped down to pursue other endeavors after leading the Menehunes to the last 10 of their 11 straight Kauai Interscholastic Federation championships and four straight state tournament appearances.
Liko Pereira, a former Waimea athlete and son of former Menehunes coach Pat Pereira, is the new head coach.
Tickets for the testimonial are $25. For more information, call Mel Nishihara at (808) 335-3252 or Tommy Rita at 338-6810, ext. 170.
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Honor Roll
TRACK AND FIELD
>> Pippa Macdonald, Punahou: Won the 100- and 200-meter dashes at an Interscholastic League of Honolulu meet.>> Keani Santos, Kamehameha: Won the shot put and the discus at an ILHmeet.
>> Travis Beyer, Kamehameha: Captured the 100- and 200-meter dashes at an ILHmeet.
>> Patrick Morrissey, Iolani: Ran to victories in the 800- and 1,500-meter races at an ILH meet.
BASKETBALL
>> Elise Umeda, Punahou: Averaged seven points, five assists, three rebounds and five steals in three games against neighbor island teams in the Lady Tiger Challenge at McKinley.>> Rachel Kane, Punahou: Made the all-tournament team at the Lady Tiger Challenge by averaging 13 points with a total of 10 assists and 13 rebounds in three games. She had a shooting percentage of .607, and she was five of seven on 3-point attempts.
>> Nineteen Hawaii wrestlers have won at least three state championships. Now You Know
Tatsuhiko Hikiji of Kaimuki was the first to do it -- from 1968 through 1970.
Patrick Higa of Iolani is the only wrestler to win four championships --from 1983 through 1986.
Jonathan Spiker of Saint Louis and Caylene Valdez of Moanalua have a chance to win their fourth straight titles this weekend in the Data House State Wrestling Championships at Blaisdell Arena. The early rounds start 11 a.m. on Friday. The girls finals are Saturday at 5 p.m. and the boys finals follow at 7.
Willie Kamakana won three state titles for two different teams --Punahou in '76 and '77 and Kaiser in '78.
Waianae's Tuinanau Ala ('69, '70, '71), Baldwin's Leigh Tonai ('73, '74, '75), Radford's Yoshi Honda ('81, '82, '83), Iolani's Kale Flagg ('83, '84, '85), Campbell's Ben Terukina ('84, '85, '86), Saint Louis' Kevin Bellefeuille ('87, '88, '89), Lawrence Lee ('87, '88, '89), Spencer Sequin ('96, '97, '98) and Travis Lee ('99, 2000, '01), Maui's Saia Lotulelei ('99, '00, '01), McKinley's Melissa Orden ('00, '01, '02), Moanalua's Stephany Lee ('00, '01, '02), Nanakuli's Ashley Gaspar ('00, '01, '02) and Kamehameha's Iwalani Fonoimoana ('00, '01, '02) are the state's other three-time champions.
Back in the Day
1957
>> Masa Yonamine coached Waipahu to its 10th straight Oahu Interscholastic Association baseball championship.
To nominate an athlete of the week, contact the Star-Bulletin Sports Department by 11 p.m. Sunday: To nominate ...
Phone: 529-4782
Fax: 529-4787
E-mail: sports@starbulletin.com
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