Hawaii-Select Heads To Las Vegas For ‘The Main Event’

Del.icio.us

Pualei Furtado of Kahaluu enters her third summer season with the Hawaii Select team. Photo by Byron Lee.

A 17-game summer schedule did more for Hawaii-Select than provide solid competition. In the all-important area of developing cohesiveness, the last four weeks were invaluable, to hear coach Dave Furtado tell it.

“This year, more so than teams we’ve had in the past, we seem to play real well as a team,” said Furtado, who coaches Hawaii-Select along with brother (and Kalaheo boys’ coach) Chico Furtado. “We’ve had parents tell us that we look as if we’ve been playing together for four years. Some of our past teams probably had more individual talent. We do have a lot of individual talent, but we also have a chemistry we haven’t had, and that’s what sets this team apart.”

The blending of talent has always been one of Hawaii-Select’s greater challenges. With a roster made up of some of the best players in the state, Hawaii-Select’s members find themselves going from being the “go-to player” on their regular school team to a different role in the summer. Next week, Hawaii-Select will face its biggest - and final - challenge of the summer when it takes part in the Vision Sports “Main Event” National Tournament in Las Vegas. The tournament, which will run Sunday through Thursday, represents familiar ground for Hawaii-Select. In 2004 and 2005 Furtado and Company captured the Vision Sports National

Tournament before finishing as the runner-up in last year’s event.

The team tuned up for “The Main Event” by winning all 17 of its summer league games. In addition to going 9-0 in Kalaheo’s Summer League, Hawaii-Select also went 8-0 in a pair of tournaments, including the Diamond Head Classic, where they played against Mainland competition.

Hawaii-Select returns five key components from a year ago in Jamie Smith (Iolani/Kailua), Diana Zane (Roosevelt), Britni Ronolo (Moanalua), Pualei Furtado (Kamehameha/Kahaluu) and Kyllie Sato (McKinley). Smith was one of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu’s top performers this spring in leading Iolani to a league title and a state tournament berth. She’s maintained the same scoring pace of the spring.

“Jamie has been dominant in the post,” Furtado said of Smith. “She’s also been able to hit some perimeter shots, which is good. We’ve brought her out(side the paint) and let her play the (number) three (position), which she may play in college, and she’s adapted well.”

Furtado and Sato are entering their third summer season with Hawaii-Select, while Lindsey Wong (Kamehameha), Kylle Roy (Kamehameha), Rhani Kaneaiakala (Kamehameha), Natasha Helsham (Aiea), Kanisha Bello (Kamehameha-Hawaii), Ta Nitra Byrd (Radford) and Chanel Hirata (Iolani) complete Hawaii-Select’s roster.

Hawaii-Select’s diverse talent has allowed it to score in a variety of ways to date this summer, although Furtado maintains that his team’s defense is its best offense.

“Most of our offense is related to our defense,” he said. “We get a lot of points from our defensive pressure. In Las Vegas, we’ll press full court the whole game, and that takes pressure off of you when you don’t have to depend on your half-court offense.”

Pualei Furtado, Kaneaiakala, Zane and Hirata join Smith to make up Hawaii-Select’s starting line-up.

“We’ve had different combinations, but that’s been our most consistent starting lineup,” Furtado said. “It’s a good group to start a game with.”

In Pualei Furtado and Hirata, Hawaii-Select boasts two of the deadliest long-range shooters in the state. Furtado had six 3-pointers in one contest this summer. Their back court play could figure big for Hawaii-Select next week, with teams likely to make Smith’s inside play the focal point of their defense.

“They’ve both shot the ball well,” Furtado said of Hirata and his daughter Pualei. “When Jamie was in Japan and missed a few games, both of them really stepped up. Perimeter shooting is one of our strengths. If we can shoot the ball well consistently from the perimeter, it can only help our inside game.”