Kalani Set To ‘Put Up Or Shut Up’
By Jack Danilewicz
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The Kalani girls basketball team is back to ground zero, to hear first-year coach George Weeks tell it. Not literally, of course.
The Falcons, who recently claimed the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s Red East Conference crown, are figuratively 0-0 as they prepare for Thursday’s OIA quarterfinal matchup against a team to be determined later.
“At this point, it’s put up or shut up time,” Weeks said.“You win or you go home - and we don’t want to go home.”
Although guaranteed the No. 1 seed out of the Red East, Kalani is nevertheless in something of a must-win situation Thursday if they are to move on to the DI state basketball tournament. With the league’s top five finishers entitled to invites, the Falcons would like to automatically punch their ticket by advancing to this week’s semi-finals rather than taking their chances in the consolation bracket in search of the fifth and final spot.
With a veteran cast in the fold, the Falcons figure to have plenty of post-season experience to fall back on. Kalani made the state tournament three years in a row, including last year’s Division I tour-ney.While still in Division II, Kalani won the OIA title in 2005 and both the OIA and DII state championships in 2006 before moving up to DI prior to last season.
“We have some experience in these situations,” said Weeks, whose team is 10-2. “Hopefully, they can use that experience to their benefit and go farther than they’ve ever gone here. Ultimately, it rests with them. If we can play the way we’re capable of playing, it should be a good postseason for us.”
Senior Iwalani Rodrigues leads the way. A transfer from Roosevelt, where she helped lead the Rough Riders to back-to-back OIA titles (as well as a state title game appearance in 2005), Rodrigues has long since established herself as one of the top players in the state.
“Iwalani has been consistent, and the other girls have really stepped up their games. It will have to be a team effort (in the postseason). Everyone will have to bring their ‘A-game’ every night.”
Kalani’s current starting lineup also includes Chloe Martin, Rhianna Farm, Ashlyn Onaga and Violet Alama.
In Weeks’ view, postseason success comes down to “defense, experience and passion.”
Asked if they have enough of all three, he replied, “I hope so. We focus on defense a lot, but you can always play better,” he added. “There’s the old cliche that defense wins championships, and we certainly think we’ll have to play good defense to be successful (in the playoffs). Our mental approach will be a key. We’ll need to do the little things. Hopefully, we can put all of those things together.”
As during the regular season when there was little margin for error in the tightly wound conference race, Kalani expects to get every team’s best effort in the playoffs. “At this point, everyone is good,“Weeks said.“We’re going to find out quickly what we’re made of. Every night is a championship game now. Hopefully, we can respond.”
The OIA title game starts at 8 p.m. Saturday at McKinley. The Hawaiian Airlines Division I state basketball tournament is Feb. 20-23 at sites to be determined later.
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