Waipahu Prepares To Host Top Two East Teams This Week

Wednesday - January 13, 2010
By Jack Danilewicz
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS | Share Del.icio.us

Kawehi Hagi of Kapolei breaks through the Mililani defense for the layup. Photo by Byron Lee, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

If the Waipahu girls basketball season ended today, the Marauders would already have exceeded their win total from last year.

Fortunately for head coach Nadine Villarmia and her team, more milestones are in reach as they took a 4-2 OIA White Conference mark into the second round of league play.

“We’re pretty happy - this is the most wins we’ve had the past couple of years,” she said.

Only a rash of sickness has undermined momentum, as four players missed practice time last week. The good news is that Waipahu was in the midst of a nine-day layoff between league games.

“Hopefully they’ll get over it before our next game, but it hurts us in practice,” Villarmia said.

The last game prior to Monday’s road trip to Leilehua was their 32-25 home win against Nanakuli, which gave the girls a season sweep over the Golden Hawks, whom they had defeated 44-31 back on Dec. 26.


 

This week, the plot thickens as the Marauders host East front-runners Kahuku and Kaimuki on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.

“It’s good to play teams of that caliber - we’ll see where we’re really at,“said Villarmia, whose team finished 3-9 in 2007-08. “We didn’t give either much competition last year, but we have both games at home, so we’re excited about that.”

Kahuku is the defending DII league champion, while Kaimuki was the runner-up last season.While landing both on their schedule in the same week is a challenge, similarities between the two figure to help Waipahu in its preparation, according to the coach.

“They’re both big and fast, and they like a fast tempo,“she said.”(Preparation) will be the same for both. We have to lessen our turnovers and shoot a better percentage.”

For its part, one of the keys to Waipahu’s fast start has been a new-found ability to play up-tempo.“We’ve actually been getting some fast break points in games, and we’ve always struggled in the past at pushing the ball up the court,” said Villarmia, who is assisted by Sheri Elarco.

At the forefront of its revitalized run game has been senior Genivee Velasco, the reigning OIA White Conference Player of the Year from a year ago. She’s on pace for another solid season at the midway point. “She’s been our top scorer, and she’s stepped up the pace of the game for us,” Villarmia said.“She adds that spark.”

The development of freshman Patricia Malala also has paid dividends so far in the back court.

“She gets rebounds we don’t think she’ll get. We’re trying to get her to be more of a threat with her penetration.”


Senior guard Jessica Lozano has also lived up to preseason expectations, according to Villarmia: “She’s been really consistent, and she’s played more under control on the court.”

Fellow senior Dara AiwohiDutro has provided further experience to the group, while Catrina Mafaniai is the team’s captain although only a junior.

Following this week’s games, the Marauders will close out their regular season on Jan. 21 at home against Kaiser. The OIA playoffs begin the following week.

E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS

Most Recent Comment(s):

Posting a comment on MidWeek.com requires a free registration.

Username

Password

Auto Login

Forgot Password

Sign Up for MidWeek newsletter Times Supermarket
Foodland

 

 



Hawaii Luxury
Magazine


Tiare Asia and Alex Bing
were spotted at the Sugar Ray's Bar Lounge