‘Flawless’ Kahuku Out To Prove Itself On Basketball Court
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usIf the Kahuku girls basketball team has its way this season, it will set the pace in Division II - literally.
“We’ve brought in a new (assistant) coach (Junior Avei, formerly of North Torrance High in California) and a whole different scheme,” Kahuku second-year head coach David Te’o said. “We want to play a fast, uptempo game now - a run-and-gun type of offense that focuses on having four out(side) and one in(side). The girls have adapted well. They like it. The offense gives them the ability to attack.”
To that end, the Red Raiders have been nearly flawless in this early preseason, cruising to wins over Molokai (82-63), Kamehameha (55-44) and Word of Life (81-30).
“Last year, we were more of a half-court team because we had a great post player (Afalava). We’d look inside first, and our last option was to shoot the three. Our main focus now is to have four, even five girls shooting threes. Our shooting percentage has been high.”
Although Te’o's team lost standout post player Taeja Afalava, who transferred to a school in Utah, Kahuku brings back its top seven players from last year. An added incentive to perform well was also spawned with the Red Raiders’ shift from Division I to Division II.
“The girls are upset about that (moving down) because we’re contenders (at the DI level),” Te’o said. “It’s also made us humble. We want to show everyone what we can do.”
Their run-game begins with sophomore point guard Rachael Tailele, who is cut from the same cloth as older sister, Carla, who had a great career at Kahuku under Wendy Anae earlier in the decade.
“She has an uncanny ability to see the whole court. She’s the tempo setter for our team. She’s young and fast, and she’s always attacking. She’ll split double teams.”
Kahuku also features back court talent in Hi’ilei Cummings, Lala Latu, Lama Tito and Nile Te’o, the coach’s daughter, and one of the top volleyball players in the state this fall. Te’o already has had her share of big games on the hardwood, dropping in six 3-pointers in Kahuku’s win over Molokai a couple of weeks ago.
“Nile brings her mental toughness, and she’s definitely one of our best 3-point shooters,” David Te’o said of his daughter. “Lala can shoot the lights out, and she’s another tough girl, mentally. She can d-up (play defense) with the best of them, too.
“Hi’ilei is one of our pure basketball girls, along with Rachael,” he added. “She’s our most diverse starter. She can post down low. We can even use her at center. She’s very competitive, and she has high expectations for herself. Lama is like Nile and Lala combined. She’s an aggressive individual who can shoot the lights out and who is mentally tough.”
In the post, the Red Raiders bring back a pair of talented seniors in Adele Schwenke and Jovan Falemalu.
“Adele is a joy to have,” Te’o said. “She wasn’t even going to play; she was just going to focus on track and field. She’s a big girl who is light on her feet and has soft hands, and we know we’ll score a lot of points with Jovan. Most kids either have a strong game or a finesse game, and she has both.”
Te’o has also been encouraged by the long-term prospects for the program, especially at the lower levels. “The real blessing has been the junior varsity and intermediate players we have coming up. We have two freshmen that we could have moved up (to varsity) and a couple of intermediate players who scrimmage with us sometimes.”
Kahuku, which opens its regular season Jan. 3 at home against Kaimuki, returns to action this week in the Saint Francis Tournament. They will play Kaimuki on Thursday in a preview of their OIA-opener, Sacred Hearts on Friday and Molokai on Saturday. Game times were to be announced early this week.
Contact Jack Danilewicz at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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