Kalaheo Girls Work On ‘Playing Smarter’ In Key Playoffs

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Kalaheo’s Shanadee Canon. Photo by Nathalie Walker.
Kalaheo’s Shanadee Canon.
Photo by Nathalie Walker.

The Kalaheo girls basketball team may be beginning the post-season on the road this time around, but in a sense, the Lady Mustangs have always felt right at home when it comes to the Oahu Interscholastic Association Tournament.

With five OIA titles and nine state tournament appearances in the Chico Furtado era, the Lady Mustangs have made it a habit of preserving their biggest efforts for their biggest games.

“I told the kids just the other day that our best players have to rise to the occasion,“Furtado said.“That’s part of the territory (of the post-season).”

This week, a greater goal looms for the Lady Mustangs aside from capturing their first OIA title since 2002 - the much-coveted state tournament berth. The four semi-finalists in the OIA tournament automatically qualify with the fifth-place team earning a berth as well by way of a play-in game. Kalaheo was upset in its second-round game last year, but rebounded with two straight wins to make the state tournament. Furtado would like a little less drama this time around. A win on Thursday would send the Lady Mustangs into the winners’ bracket and the semi-finals of the OIA Tournament.

Kalaheo’s opponent for Thursday’s game, which will be played at Radford, was to be determined by the outcome of a first round match-up on Wednesday. (Game times were to be announced over the weekend.) The Lady Mustangs were anticipating being the No. 2 seed out of the East and earning a first-round bye. As they prepared for their regular-season finale with Moanalua late last week, Furtado was fine-tuning the Lady Mustangs’ mental approach.

“We have to play smarter,” said Furtado.“I was telling our team the other night that by this point in the season, you would hope you’re playing more intelligently. Our effort most of the time has been great.We have to make good decisions and be able to play patient when we need to. In order to minimize mistakes, you have to be a smarter basketball player. Our recognition of what’s happening on the floor could be a lot better.”

Opposing teams, meanwhile, have made it a point of emphasis to recognize Mustang Shanadee Canon’s whereabouts on the floor at all times. A junior guard, Canon is averaging an OIA-best 20.1 points per game and has faced a box-and-one defense designed to stop her on more than one occasion. On a team short on height in the post, Canon’s versatility has proved a difference-maker for the Lady Mustangs. She was back at full strength late last week after being slowed by the flu for two of Kalaheo’s games the previous week.

A solid supporting cast - Kaliko Kepa, Kendra Fischer, Hoku Kaiu-Denning, Delicia Wilson and Brianne Villarosa - has surrounded Canon.

“We’ve had a nice little rotation, but we’re still striving for consistency,“Furtado said.“We do things in short spurts. Sometimes we look really good when we’re running our stuff.We’re trying to stay away from those lulls on offense.”

Defense has always been the Lady Mustangs’forte, and Furtado is hoping for another good effort this post-season.

“Hopefully, we’ll get stronger there,” Furtado said of his team’s defense. “We’re trying to do some different things. Right now our struggles have been because we’re not very big in the post. We have to make a concerted effort to control the boards, or we’ll be in trouble. We out-rebounded Farrington by 14 the other night, so that was good. If we can play every team even on the glass, we’ll be okay.”

The OIA championship game is set for Friday, May 12. The Hawaiian Airlines Girls’ State Basketball Tournament will take place from May 16-19 at the Stan Sheriff Center on the University of Hawaii campus.