(Note: This story was originally published in the Star-Bulletin. This version includes additional game summary.)

By Paul Honda
Editor
HondaReport.com
Saturday, January 24, 2004

NANAKULI—The sunset behind Nanakuli High School was picturesque and golden.

It seemed fitting that the Golden Hawks of Nanakuli should beat Pearl City and continue its unbeaten run through the vastly improved O’ahu Interscholastic Association West Division.

Problem is, someone forgot to hand the visiting Chargers the fantasy script. With tenacious defense and a major turnaround at halftime, Pearl City closed out the game with a 15-1 run and a 45-31 victory last night.

A.J. Fultz, a 6-foot-5 sophomore with soft hands and a relentless hunger for rebounds, had his biggest game of the season. Fultz scored 20 points, all in the low post, and grabbed 10 rebounds as Pearl City controlled the paint. Six of his caroms were on the offensive end, and he combined with teammates Michael Hardy and Brandon Rambonga for 11 offensive boards.

“They played like they wanted it more tonight,” Nanakuli head coach Gerald Lum said of the visiting Chargers. “We just gotta put the ball in the hoop. We’ve never been in this situation. It’s how you deal with pressure. I hope we learn from it.”

Jimmy Afamasaga led the cold-shooting Golden Hawks with seven points. David Balicao added six, while leading scorer James Chandler was ice-cold with just one point.

It was a tough night for Nanakuli, which entered the HondaReport.com Top Ten Tuesday at No. 10.

Pearl City continued to slash and burn a path to the playoffs, improving to 5-2. Both of those losses came early in the regular season. “This is a real big win for us,” said Hardy, a 6-3 forward who did his best impression of a young Scottie Pippen.

Hardy scored nine points, including a resounding steal and slam dunk in the third quarter. He also grabbed eight rebounds, dished out six assists—several to Fultz—had four steals and two blocked shots.

“After we losing those two games at the beginning of the season, this is big. I was surprised the way it turned out. They beat Leilehua and we lost to Leilehua,” Hardy added.

Defense has become a cornerstone for the Chargers. Brandon Rambonga, a 5-9 guard, led his team with 11 rebounds. He scored 10 points and had two steals in a vigorous effort on both ends of the floor.

“The seniors, Royce (Yuen) and Brandon really stepped up,” Hardy said. “They controlled the tempo.”

That tempo wasn’t so smooth in the opening half, when Pearl City committed a whopping 18 turnovers. The Chargers trailed just 22-18, though, thanks to Nanakuli’s horrendous outside shooting. Fultz isn’t a high flyer, but his size and reach were enough to make the Golden Hawks hesitate in the key.

The third quarter was pivotal, not on the scoreboard, but in the Chargers’ will to succeed. Head coach Lionel Villarmia’s squad began to handle Nanakuli’s halfcourt press, turning the ball over just once in the entire third stanza. That allowed Fultz to establish some consistency inside. He hustled for a follow shot before Hardy drilled a 3-pointer from the top.

After Fultz caught a sweet feed from Rollie Salvacion and hit a 7-foot turnaround jumper, Pearl City led 29-24 with 50 seconds left in the third.

Nanakuli never led again. The Golden Hawks pulled within one on a free throw by Chandler, but 8-of-17 by the Hawks derailed every opportunity to stay close.
After Afamasaga hit two foul shots to pull Nanakuli within 31-30 with 4:48 left, turnovers plagued Nanakuli.

Yuen hit a left-handed running bank shot from 10 feet out, and Hardy came up with a steal, feeding Rambonga for an easy deuce, forcing Nanakuli to call time out. The Chargers led 35-30 with 3:45 to play.

The moans in Nanakuli’s gym turned to groans within minutes. The Golden Hawks shied away from driving to the paint and settled for long-range jumpers, and the iron was unkind. Rambonga swished two foul shots and Fultz snuffed Justin Luavasa on the low post before scoring on a layup—courtesy of a feed from Rambonga.

Nanakuli committed four turnovers in that span, and by the time Rambonga saved the ball at mid-court, leading to a beautiful tip pass from Hardy to Fultz for two more points, the win was secure for Pearl City.

The Chargers led 41-30 with 1:24 to play, and Nanakuli did not threaten.

Despite the sting of defeat, Nanakuli (14-6 overall), may not have suffered all that much. After all, the top finisher in the OIA West earns nothing more than a first-round bye in the playoffs—not always an advantage, as recent history has shown.

“By no means are we out of this race,” Lum said. “We just gotta work our butts off.”

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