The Chargers Play Hard And Put Up A Solid Defense
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usFor all of the individual talent on the Pearl City girls basketball team, their MVP at the midway point of the 2007 season is the Chargers’ defensive scheme itself.
“It’s always been No. 1 with me,” said Pearl City coach Michael Morton, who is in his sixth season with the Chargers. “The girls have bought in and taken pride in it (defense). It (their success) has been all defense. We’ve had some kids who weren’t scoring a lot and we told them, ‘your role is to play good defense,’ and they’ve responded.”
The Chargers entered the weekend having won four in a row (after a 0-2 start) and find themselves in an opportunistic position with a visit to league-leader and defending West champion Radford set for Wednesday. (Tipoff at Radford will be at approximately 6:30 p.m.) The Rams used a big second half en route to a 50-26 win in the first meeting between the schools last month, but figure to meet a more finely tuned Pearl City team on Wednesday.
The Chargers are giving up only 31.8 points per outing and have held two of their last three opponents to under 30 points. Pearl City’s win streak also includes a riveting 40-39 triumph over Aiea on a free throw by Jazmin Pahukoa-Malia with three seconds remaining and a workmanlike 44-32 victory over Nanakuli last week.
The Chargers’ fate Wednesday night will be tied entirely to their defensive effort. In 6-foot freshman center Ta Nitra Byrd, Radford features the league’s top scorer at 17.5 points per game. She scored 14 in the first meeting between the teams.
“She’s been outstanding,” Morton said. “She’s played at the level of a senior.”
The Rams, whose only loss in the West was to Aiea (46-45) March 14, also have veterans in Chelsea Villanueva and Marlena Malepeai.
“They’re very athletic and quick,” Morton said. “Pressure (defense) has given us trouble. We have to play more disciplined and play harder this time.”
Pearl City is led by forward Pahukoa-Malia, whose 13.2 average places her fourth among the West’s leaders. She also had connected on a team-best six 3-pointers heading into the weekend. Desiree Luis, Kaiona Auyong, Tiffany Gadingan, Ariel Komomua, Kasie Kunishima and freshman guard Kalei Adams have all combined to form a solid supporting cast.
“Kaiona has been stepping it up lately on offense, and everyone else has chipped in. They’ve practiced really hard, and they’ve played really hard. There’s been no grumbling. The unselfishness of this team has been unbelievable. Our trip to Kona was huge. It brought them closer together.”
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