Chargers Bond, Brush Up Their Skills On Trip To Kona
By Jack Danilewicz
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Pearl City High School’s Kaiona Auyong,
Jazmin Pahukoa-Makia and Kalei Adams
practice on March 6 before heading off
to play in Kona. Photo by Byron Lee,
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The Pearl City girls basketball team didn’t have to wait for this week and the start of the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s regular season to meet some of the state’s best teams.
That was all by design, according to Chargers head coach Mike Morton, whose team was in Kona over the weekend, where they played defending Division II state champion Kalani as well as Kona and Maui on successive nights.
“It’s kind of late in the pre-season to be going on a trip, but we do it as a team-bonding thing. Games like that (vs. state powers) also definitely tell us what we have to work on.”
Pearl City also played Kailua, Moanalua, Castle, Kapolei, Waianae and Kaimuki. This week, the challenges continue for the Chargers. They were to open their West schedule Tuesday at Mililani before having a couple days to prepare for Friday night’s matchup with five-time defending West champion Radford.
While the Chargers have played as difficult a pre-season schedule as any team, injuries and absences have interrupted their upward mobility.As of late last week, guard Kasie Kunashima was out indefinitely while awaiting medical clearance. The rest of the Pearl City roster should be available for Tuesday’s game, however.
“We only had seven at practice the other day, so we’re a little behind, but we’re starting to come together,” said Morton, whose team finished 5-7 in 2006 and 2005. “The work ethic has been very good. The kids have worked hard. They just need more (game) experience. It’s something they have to work through.”
Senior Jazmin Pahukoa-Malia has been the Chargers’ leader to date.A volleyball standout, she was away from basketball during her junior year, but was an All-West selection by the league coaches as a sophomore.
“She played really good against Kaimuki the other night,“Morton said. “It was her coming-out party. She really stepped it up, scoring 24 of our 39 points.We’re looking forward to her having a great season. We’ll need some more point production from other people.”
With that in mind, Morton’s rotation throughout the pre-season has included Desiree Luis, Kaiona Auyong, Tiffany Gadingan and Ariel Komomua in addition to Kunashima. Freshman guard Kalei Adams has also logged more minutes of late and could see her role expand in coming weeks.
“She’s done real well,” Morton said.“She’s very athletic, more of a slasher, and she has a great attitude. She’s going through some freshman growing pains, but she’s going to be really good in the future. Ariel (Komomua) has been a real spark off of the bench. She’s probably our best passer. We’re trying to get everyone to play well together.”
With eight of the Chargers in their first year of varsity action, the underclassmen have been in transition in the early pre-season.“It’s way faster (at the varsity level),” the coach said. “You have to adjust to the speed of the game. We have a lot of potential. I haven’t seen freshmen like this in awhile.”
In Radford, the Chargers will play the West’s pre-season favorite. The Rams are coming off a state tournament appearance last May under coach David Lane.
“They’re very experienced - they only lost one player from last year - and he does a good job with them,” Morton said. “We’re less talented than they are, so we’re hoping to put a monkey wrench into things by putting in some things for them. We’re a little bit behind, offensively, so we’re going to have to improve (to have a chance vs. Radford).We’ve had way too many turnovers, but we’re getting better, which is what matters.”
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