Green Kalani Team Loves The Game
By Jack Danilewicz
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS | Share
Del.icio.us
|
With heavy losses to graduation last spring, Kalani head girls basketball coach George Weeks knew he’d have an inexperienced team in the early-going this season. One thing that has never wavered in the transition, however, is his team’s work ethic.
“I don’t have to ask these kids to play hard,” said Weeks, whose team took a 1-2 record into Tuesday’s game with Moanalua. “Their approach has been excellent. We have no super stars. Everyone is in it for each other. We’re a young team without a lot of varsity experience, and we’re going to get better and better as the season goes along. It’s a matter of understanding the nuances and intricacies of what we’re trying to do.”
Perhaps no team in the state has played a tougher schedule in early January than the Falcons, who opened OIA Red East play with losses at Farrington (43-32) and at home against McKinley (82-44) before regrouping big to win a thriller over Kailua, 63-60, last Wednesday. Kalani was to play Moanalua on Tuesday before traveling to Castle and Roosevelt for games on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
Although Castle entered the weekend winless at 0-3, as the defending OIA champions, the Falcons have been on the receiving end of every opponent’s best effort and expect a tough game against the Knights Thursday.
Conversely, Saturday’s opponent, Roosevelt, was unbeaten in its first two games, entering the weekend.
“Having moved up to Division I, I’m sure Castle wants to prove they belong here,” Weeks said, “and Roosevelt is a very strong program - and they’re strong again this year. We have to play probably a perfect game to put it all together against them. They have experienced players and good coaching. I just hope we can compete with them.
“Top to bottom, (Red East) is a very tough league. Every team that is successful will have earned it. Our challenge is to overcome our youth and inexperience and put it all together.”
To date, the strength of the Falcons has been their depth, with 14 players in the rotation. “We have 16 kids on the team, and two are injured, so we’re playing 14 on a regular basis. Everyone is expected to participate. We want to play that many, and we have to play that many to run the system we’ve chosen. We have confidence that any one of them can contribute on any night.”
Three Falcons - Ashlyn Onaga (14.0 points per game), Jamie Higa (13.6) and Cristine Sasano (10.3) - are currently averaging in double figures, while eight different Kalani players have at least one 3-pointer to their credit through three games. Kalani is averaging 46.1 points per outing as a team. Alyssa Obata, Joyce Lam,
Kelsie Maslanka, Tiffany Liao, Corie Kuia, Kierra Iinuma, Kristi Belshe, Leina Faleolo, Hikaru Kumagai, Tiare Maafala, and Loretta and Lorenna Misaalefua round out the Kalani team. All-conference senior Violet Alama is out for the season with an injury.
Following Saturday’s game at Roosevelt, the Falcons will play four of their final six regular-season games at home, including the final three.
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS
Most Recent Comment(s):
