Hawaii-Select Tourney Travelogue

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Hawaii-Select girls basketball team: (back, from left)
coach Dave Furtado, Rhianna Farm, Shanadee Canon,
Jamie Smith, coach Chico Furtado, Brittni Ronolo,
Chelsie Sato, Ashley Medcalf, (front) Analee Vienna-
Lota, Pualei Furtado, Diana Zane, Kylie Sato, Jamie
Ronolo and Nicole Fu. Photo from Dave Furtado.

Like the old adage, it’s not the destination but the journey that counts.

The Hawaii-Select girls all-star basketball team may have fallen two points short in its bid for a third consecutive national title in Las Vegas last week at the Vision Sports National Youth Tournament, but the 12-member squad more than measured up to the Mainland competition, outscoring their opponents by an overwhelming average score of 60-44 en route to a 5-1 record.

The team was sponsored by Puma and included Shanadee Canon (Kalaheo), Nicole Fu (Maryknoll), Chelsie Sato (McKinley), Kylie Sato (McKinley/Washington Intermediate), Ana Viena-Lota (Kamehameha), Pualei Furtado (Kamehameha), Diana Zane (Roosevelt), Ashley Medcalf (Christian Academy), Jamie Smith (Iolani), Rhianna Farm (Kamehameha) and sisters Britni and Jamie Ronolo (Moanalua).

Hawaii-Select, which is coached by Kalaheo boys coach Chico Furtado, has compiled a 23-1 record dating back to July 2004 and had won 22 games in a row before a 56-54 loss to Omaha in the Vision Sports title game July 31.

Furtado as well as players Canon and Pualei Furtado were asked to record journal entries from the tournament for MidWeek:

PUALEI FURTADO (Kahalu’u/Kamehameha)

July 28 (Hawaii-Select 61, Victorville CA 36)

“We had an early game today (9:10 Las Vegas time) so our curfew was 10:30 last night. We were supposed to be in our rooms by that time ... Coach had reminded us not to take anyone lightly, but we started out slow anyway (we were down 14-3 in the beginning), and for the first time we played a team that was smaller than us. Some people may have taken them lightly, but they were playing a zone against us, and that made it easier to get shots against them. I didn’t start the game, and I was anxious like everybody (who began the game on the bench) to get in the game, especially when we seemed low on energy. People were frustrated. A lot of calls weren’t going our way. But once we got into it, we felt a lot better.

We are staying at the Gold Coast Hotel, although we don’t hang out there much. After our game, we came back and showered and stuff and then we went shopping as a team. (I bought some blue-and-white basketball shoes - Kamehameha colors!) We have been doing a lot of things as a team, and everyone is getting along good. At first, some of the people were shy, but everyone’s starting to open up now. I am rooming with Diana Zane, Shanadee Canon and Britni Ronolo.

Yesterday we went to the Excaliber for lunch. It was good. We had Hawaiian food - kalua pig and cabbage, Spam musubi, teriyaki chicken, saimin (etc.).

Now we are waiting to find out our curfew from Coach, which always depends on what time we play the next day. Coach always likes us to get a good night’s rest. Being with the team and playing basketball has been a lot of fun here.”

SHANADEE CANON (Waimanalo/Kalaheo)

July 29 (Hawaii-Select 64, Kansan Dream 38)

“Because we had a late game today (3 p.m. Las Vegas time), our curfew was 12:30 last night. Earlier last night we had gone downstairs in our hotel and went to cosmic bowling. Before that, we had attended a dinner show as a team. There’s a huge roller coaster ride here that goes around the hotel, and we rode that. We also spent some time at New York, New York, which is like a game-room and is connected to the MGM Grand.

Yesterday, we also spent some time shopping and I bought some clothes (belts, shoes, a skirt and some matching tops) at the Las Vegas Outlet Store.

We didn’t eat as a team today. We were on our own for breakfast, so I woke up at 9 a.m. to order room service for me and the rest of the girls in our room. I went back to sleep then and we all woke up at 10:30 when it arrived. I really wanted some rice, but we all had pancakes instead - except for Diana, who had oatmeal. I drank Gatorade with my pancakes. I miss local food, but I’d better get used to it if I am going to play college basketball on the Mainland some day!

On our first day together, we didn’t do that well, but we all worked well as a team today.We’ve done a lot of team activities, and that has brought us closer together. We have some new girls this year, so it was different at first, but now we are really a team. I felt like today was my best game of the tournament.

We are getting ready to meet in the hotel lobby downstairs now, and then Coach is taking us to a buffet dinner. We’ll probably go bowling after that.”

Head Coach CHICO FURTADO

July 30 (Hawaii-Select 65, Fort Worth 38)

“The team we played (Fort Worth, Texas) had won its earlier (quarterfinal) game today by 39 points, so we thought we’d really have to clamp down on them, defensively. I challenged Nicole (Fu of Maryknoll) to stop their shooter, who had six 3-pointers in their morning game, and she did a great job. Against Nicole, she had no 3-pointers! The kids played really well tonight. Jamie was in foul trouble, but Chelsea, Nicole and Shan really picked up the slack, and we got good contributions from Kylie and Ana and Pualei. It was so much fun to see them get after things. Our pressure (defense) really caused problems for them (Fort Worth). We have to win two tomorrow - our semifinal and, hopefully, the championship game. If we play with the kind of energy we did tonight, we should be OK. Playing an early game and having been on the road seven days now is a concern. The last time we had an early game (on Friday), we didn’t start out so well.

It is now 9:30 p.m. here. With an early game tomorrow, we have an 11 p.m. curfew, so tonight’s a ‘dead night,’ but the kids will have a couple of days after the tournament to do some fun things. (Assistant coach) Dave (Furtado) is in charge of bed checks, and we have to do laundry every night here, but later we’ll go downstairs in the hotel and talk story with some of the parents that have made the trip. Maybe I’ll smoke a cigar. I haven’t had one since I’ve been here, but I’ll probably retire early with such an early game tomorrow.”

July 31 (Hawaii-Select 68, JamOn-It NV 57 - Semifinal Game Omaha 56, Hawaii-Select 54 - Championship Game)

“Our kids did an excellent job today - they really battled. After pulling away in the second half to win our semifinal game against Jam-On-It, we were on the verge of getting blown out in the championship game, falling behind by 17, before we came all the way back to cut it to 1. Jamie Smith had 14 points, Shanadee 14, and Ana Viena-Lota had 10 for us. It was a beautiful sight after the game. The gym was full, and the crowd gave our kids a standing ovation for how hard they played. That made losing the game a less painful experience.

As every year, tonight we will take the kids out to a very nice restaurant - The Cortez Room, which serves steak and seafood - and that will give us closure for the tournament. It will be a late dinner, as we will be taking them out for lunch right now.

Tomorrow the kids are going to have a tour of the UNLV campus from the admissions staff there.

For the next two days, we’ll have a chance to do whatever the kids would like.

We’ve been here nine days now, so it has been a tiring but rewarding experience.”