Mules Play Pearl City, Mililani To Finish Regular Season
By Jack Danilewicz
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Leilehua cheerleader Vanessa
Fugencio practices her routine.
Photo by Nathalie Walker,
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The Oahu Interscholastic Association playoffs may be a week away, but in a sense, the Leilehua High basketball team is already in post-season mode.
“Right now, we’re playing for seeding,” said Mules’ coach Keith Spencer, of the positioning that is commonplace during the first week of February.
“We could be a three, four or five (seed out of the West), so we’re just trying to prepare ourselves for the post-season. The team has been making a lot of strides lately.”
Leilehua closes out its regular season this week with games at home against Pearl City on Wednesday and OIA-West leader Mililani on Friday. That will leave the Mules with a one-week layoff before their OIA first-round playoff game.
The top five finishers from the OIA earn berths in the upcoming Hawaiian Airlines Division I State Basketball Tournament later in the month. The Mules took a 5-4 mark into their game over the weekend with Waianae, after coming off a four-game stretch that saw them play games versus the West’s top three teams - Mililani, Radford and Campbell. Leilehua defeated Kapolei 56-44 in its most recent outing on Jan. 23.
Off the court, news has been equally promising with 6-5 post player Villiami Haunga slated to return for Friday’s 6:30 p.m. game with Mililani after having missed the regular season to date with a broken arm suffered in a high school football all-star game in December.
“We won’t expect much from him (right away) because he hasn’t played much, but just his presence and leadership will be a big plus for us,” Spencer said.
Haunga’s absence could have a positive effect on the Mules in the long run, however, as Leilehua was able to develop its other inside players, among them 6-3 junior Kolwin Dixon.
“He’s really blossomed,” Spencer said. “He’s coming out of his shell and already going into next year, he’s going to be someone to be reckoned within. Our big guys are our strength - we knew that at the beginning (of the season).”
Veterans Dustin Pau’u and Josh Brooks have been the Mules’ leaders most games, although the Leilehua lineup took on a different look two weeks ago when Spencer moved sophomore point guard Hoku Kama up from the junior varsity team and promptly inserted him into the starting lineup.
With the versatility to play either guard position, Kama is often paired in the back court with Pau’u.
“That has worked out fine for us so far,” Spencer said of his revamped starting lineup. “All of our guards are coming around,” he added, noting also the play of reserve guard Corey Morgan.
Should the Mules maintain their level of inside play, their backcourt play could go a long way in determining how successful Leilehua is in the post-season. (Spencer’s teams have twice made the semifinals of the OIA’s post-season, including a runner-up finish in 2003.) A complementary outside game would serve the Mules well, in Spencer’s view.
“We’ll have to shoot the ball well from the perimeter,” he said. “Some of our (outside) shots have been there lately - in and out. We got good looks (at the basket) - it just didn’t go in. Some of our guys’ confidence-levels in shooting aren’t as high as they could be.”
Defense has remained Leilehua’s forte, meanwhile. More of a point of emphasis lately for the Mules has been promoting consistency, according to the coach.
“We’ve had some bad quarters this season where we just didn’t play good team defense,” he said.
“We’ve gone over films with the guys, and they understand (mistakes from the past). They understand that in playing four consistent quarters we could do a lot better.
“They’ve been doing a good job, but as a coach, you’re never satisfied.”
Pairings for next week’s OIA Tournament will be set over the weekend. First-round games will begin on Feb. 8.
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