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By Paul Honda
Editor
HondaReport.com
Friday, April 16, 2004

HONOLULU—The M*A*S*H unit also known as the Kalaheo Lady Mustangs knows all about perseverance.

With a fourth key contributor out of the lineup due to injury, Kalaheo’s playoff security was beginning to dissipate. Randi Forstad, however, came through in the clutch.

Forstad sank two free throws with 4.9 seconds remaining to lift Kalaheo to a 31-29 win at Farrington Friday night.

“I was thinking, ‘I know I can do it.’ I work on it a lot,” Forstad said. “Probably about 50 free throws a day.”

Kalaheo trailed by 13 points in the first half before rallying. The win lifted the Lady Mustangs to 6-2 in O’ahu Interscholastic Association East Division play. Kalaheo can get the inside track on second place—which would mean homecourt advantage in the playoffs—by defeating Kaiser.

Kaiser is 7-1 in league play after edging McKinley Friday night.

Farrington, meanwhile, saw its playoff hopes diminish. At 4-4, the Lady Governors need help from the five teams ahead in the East. Only four teams qualify for the OIA playoffs this year. And in the past three days, Farrington has pushed a pair of team in the HondaReport.com Top Ten to the limit. On Tuesday, Farrington lost to No. 8 McKinley in overtime.

Kalaheo is ranked fifth in the poll.

Kalaheo got the ball back with the game tied at 29 with 38 seconds left.

Forstad, generously listed at 5-foot-8, hustled on the low post. The junior missed a tough shot over Farrington center Sunshine Misa-Uli. Forstad got to the other side of the rim, got her second shot blocked by Misa-Uli, and grabbed yet another rebound. This time, Misa-Uli was whistled for a foul, and Forstad went to the line.

Forstad, who admitted being somewhat intimidated by Misa-Uli early in the game, had no time to be hesitant. “I just wanted to get up with the ball as soon as I could before she could stop me,” Forstad said.

She swished her first free-throw try to give Kalaheo a 30-29 lead. Her second shot tumbled in to give the Lady Mustangs a two-point cushion.

Farrington got the ball inbound and called time out with 3.2 seconds left. From the sideline, Misa-Uli passed to Tanya Sale at mid-court. Sale had difficulty finding an open teammate, and finally tried to pass the ball to Sandy Tauta at the top of the key. Kalaheo guard Shaina Siliga intercepted the pass with one second left to end the game.

Misa-Uli scored 12 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked four shots to lead Farrington. Joanna Montero added eight points for the Lady Govs, who were 2-of-12 from the 3-point line. Late turnovers hurt, as well.

After committing just three turnovers in the opening quarter, Farrington finished with 16 in all. With Kalaheo’s defense double- and triple-teaming Misa-Uli on the low post, the Governors were unable to establish a consistent low-post game. They shot just four foul shots, making one.

Kalaheo sank 13-of-18 attempts from the line. That helped take the edge off a 9-of-40 night from the field, including 0-of-5 from the 3-point line.

In addition, Kalaheo managed to rebound with some effectiveness despite losing center Kaiena Huihui to a foot injury last week. Farrington outrebounded Kalaheo, 31-25. The Lady Mustangs corralled 12 offensive rebounds and committed a relatively low 10 turnovers.

Freshman Shanadee Canon scored eight of her team-high 11 points in the second half. Canon and Forstad led their team with five rebounds apiece.

The trials and tribulations endured by the Lady Mustangs are something to behold. In addition to the four injured players—Smith, Huihui, Halialoha Travis and Brianne Villarosa—two more were disabled before the season even started. Losing Huihui, a 5-10 senior, could have broken their spirit.

Instead, the injured Mustangs cheered on, crutches in the air. “It’s almost like something or someone is trying to hold us back,” Forstad said. “But we keep fighting back. We’re gonna be all right as long as we come together as a team.”

Playing well together wasn’t exactly how the game started for Kalaheo. Farrington jumped to a 9-0 lead. There was nary a word from Furtado during those opening five minutes.

“Quiet is bad. It means he’s pissed,” Forstad said.

It was actually a little frustration and a little bit of tolerance. “I think sometimes our kids rely on us to motivate them,” Furtado said. By the end of the quarter, the veteran coach increased the heat from simmer to high.

Even then, it didn’t seem to matter. Kalaheo had no offense to speak of, not with Huihui out, and particularly with All-State forward Taylor Smith still out with a foot injury.

Farrington sliced up Kalaheo’s 2-3 zone and man defenses. After Misa-Uli connected with Sale on a cut down the middle, the Lady Governors led 18-5 with 4:55 remaining in the first half.

Kalaheo cut the lead to 18-9 by halftime. The Lady Mustangs shot 3-of-14 by intermission. “Coach talked about playing with confidence from the neck up,” Farstad said. “He said, that’s where we need it.”

The Lady Mustangs stayed in the zone and chipped away. Canon, an elusive 5-8 guard, hit a pair of foul shots and drove hard for a layup to bring Kalaheo within 20-15.

Montero, however, drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to push her team’s lead back to eight. Turnovers, however, began to plague Farrington.

Facing Kalaheo’s full-court press for most of the game, the Govs showed signs of wearing down. In a span of three minutes, they gave the ball away six times.

Kalaheo, mingling its man defense with the zone, was in lock-down mode. “I just thought our man could generate some offense,” Furtado said.

Kamala Kau, starting in place of Huihui, scored on an inbounds pass from Shantel Marumoto, to bring Kalaheo within four. Farrington went cold, and Canon came through. She drove into the paint and sank a short jump shot, then hit two free throws to tie the game at 25 with 2:55 remaining.

Farrington, playing conservatively on offense, finally broke a scoreless spell of 7 minutes and 40 seconds. Misa-Uli’s layup off an inbounds lob pass from midcourt by Sale pushed the Govs back ahead, 29-27.

Kaliko Kepa then stepped up with a pair of foul shots, and a power move on the post off a feed from Siliga. That gave Kalaheo a 29-27 lead with 1:59 to go.

Misa-Uli answered right back with an offensive board and putback, tying the game at 29 with 1:35 left.

Kalaheo chose not to hold for the final shot. Siliga missed an open 3-pointer, giving Farrington the ball back with 55 seconds to play. However, Misa-Uli found herself triple-teamed on the low post and delivered an errant pass that was stolen by Marumoto with 38 seconds remaining.

The Lady Mustangs called time out with 30 ticks left, setting up their final possession. Forstad’s big play under the basket turned into Farrington’s misfortune. With Misa-Uli’s foul—strongly contested by Governor fans—the Govs didn’t get a call in the final seconds of regulation for a second game in a row.

“I thought he wasn’t gonna call it. He called it a bit late,” Furtado admitted.

“It’s a tough one for the team to take,” Farrington head coach Jenic Tumaneng said. “We had a lapse, and Kalaheo is such a great team. They kept their poise. But I feel for our kids. It’s tough to lose two games in that kind of situation.”

Tumaneng’s squad is caught in the numbers game. A year ago, a fifth- or sixth-place finish was good enough for a playoff berth—deservedly so in a league where the East went 6-0 in the playoffs against the West.

With the implementation of a Division II state tournament, the OIA chose to eliminate four playoff berths—two from the West and two from the East—and create a Division II league playoff tourney.

Coaches on both sides of the league have insisted that the Division I teams are not getting a fair shake, but because they were not consulted before the decision was made, the format stands. And Farrington could be one of those teams on the outside looking in.

“I just feel for the girls who come out and practice so hard,” Tumaneng said.

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