Mustangs Aim For A First-round Bye
By Jack Danilewicz
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Junior Richard Preza-Haynes may be a relative newcomer to Kalaheo’s starting lineup, but that hasn’t prevented him from drawing some of the Mustangs’ toughest assignments.
“His role is to play the best perimeter player from the opposing team, and he’s understanding that,” head basketball coach Chico Furtado said. “I told him he’s not going to be our go-to guy and that his scoring would be a bonus. He’s really quick and athletic, and he gets on the floor (for loose balls). He’s 5-10 or 5-11, but he does a lot of things to make up for his size. He’s given us a lift, and he’s hit some shots, too.”
With an array of talented guards in the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s Red East conference, Preza-Haynes’ task is considerable every night out. Since taking over a starting role in late December during the Merv Lopes preseason tournament, his steady defensive play has been among the reasons why the Mustangs took a 6-0 record into their showdown with unbeaten Kahuku last Friday.
With Preza-Haynes in the fold, the lineup now includes Taylor Jay, D.J. Chang and Alika Kaanapu in addition to Red East Player of the Year candidate Cheynne Lishman. Bruce Andrews, Aaron Fernandez and Cody von Appen are also figuring big into Furtado’s rotation.
Preza-Haynes has also added some scoring to the mix in recent games, tallying 7 points against Roosevelt and 9 against Kaimuki. Finding offensive output to complement Lishman’s scoring has been a priority since they opened preseason camp in November.
“He had a nice steal against Kaimuki, he hit an open three to put us 15 points, and he had two big free throws, so he’s coming along,” Furtado noted.
For the Mustangs, who host Roosevelt Thursday and Kailua next Monday, the coming weeks will be all about getting into position for a postseason run.
“There’s still a lot of basketball to be played,” Furtado said only hours before the Mustangs took the floor against Kahuku.
“The way the league is, we’re all battling for home court advantage and a first-round bye. That’s the prize.
“But that doesn’t guarantee you anything,” he added of winning the Red East title. “You still have to win the first-round (OIA tournament) game to have a chance (to qualify for one of the league’s state tournament berths). Mililani has won the West the last two years only to lose in the first round of the OIA playoffs.”
Despite their 6-0 start, Furtado called the Mustangs “a work in progress” late last week.
“We have to continue to get better in deficient areas,” he said, alluding to his team’s troubles holding big leads. “You can’t take plays off or possessions off - you have to keep playing. In every game, we’ve had a double-digit lead at the half, and in five of the six games, we’ve let the other team cut it to single digits.
“We’ve been looking at everything to try to figure it out - our substitution patterns, fatigue ...,” he added. “The one thing we address every game at halftime is that the other team is going to make a run, and when they do that, we’re going to have to keep our composure. We can’t help their run by turning the ball over or taking bad shots. The things you need to do to put teams away, we’re not doing.”
Following next Monday’s game with Kailua, Kalaheo will close out its regular season with games against at Castle Jan. 30 and Kahuku Feb. 1. That game, which was originally a Kahuku home game, has been moved to Mililani High School, and will be shown live on OC-16.
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