Marauders Focus On End-of-the-season Strength
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usIn a league defined by balance among its members, Waipahu girls basketball coach Nadine Villarmia knows her team’s time will come.
“Everyone’s beating everyone, so we can surprise some people (in the second half of the season),” she said. “We tell the kids that we have to keep working hard every day. One day, their hard work is going to pay off. If we can come on strong at the end of the year, our record (at mid-season) isn’t going to matter.”
The Marauders return to action this Wednesday with a home date against Castle at 6:30 p.m. A win over the Knights would be a big confidence boost for a team that features six underclassmen. More of a roadblock to Waipahu’s success this spring has been the absence of size - no member of the Marauders stretches beyond 5 feet 8 inches.
“We’re all going to have to grow about five inches in the next week,” Villarmia joked of the key to beating Castle on Wednesday. “We’ll have to do a good job of rebounding against them. They also have two real quick guards that they rely on.”
Waipahu, which took a 1-5 record into the weekend, has relied on veterans Demi Samson and Marge Siligo to date, with Joyce Baptista, Lily Donley, Mahea Spencer and Brendalyn Brub filling out much of the rest of their rotation. Samson was a point guard as a junior but was moved to small forward this season in order to take advantage of her offensive skills. She’s averaging 10.8 points per game.
“She’s our primary ball-handler, but she’s been scoring more this year, which is what we wanted,” Villarmia said.
Siligo, a 5-foot-7-inch senior, is the team’s leading scorer at 12.0 points per outing and could be a big factor in Wednesday’s game, according to Villarmia.
“I think that if Marge can stay out of foul trouble, we’ll be OK,” she said. “She’s been scoring inside lately and grabbing the rebounds. She and Demi have both been consistent.”
As was the case in pre-season, the Marauders have counted on their defense to keep them in games. Despite a 1-5 start to the season, only two opponents have scored more than 50 points against Villarmia’s team. Offensively, Waipahu is averaging 35.4 points per game.
“We’re stepping up more on defense, which is what we’ve wanted to see,” Siligo said.“We still struggle with turnovers and getting rebounds, and we still need more people to score.
“We need people to become more selfish (on the offensive end).”
Following Wednesday’s contest with Castle, the Marauders have two regular-season games remaining on their schedule. Waipahu is at league-leader Campbell next Wednesday (April 18) and hosts Waialua on Saturday (April 21). The Division II OIA playoffs begin the following week.
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