OIA Girls Basketball
First-half barrage powers McKinley over Farrington for the OIA D2 title


Michael Lasquero | ScoringLive
February 1, 2024, 7:44am

  


Wed, Jan 31, 2024 @ Pearl City

McKinley

41

Farrington

33

Final 1 2 3 4  
McKinley (8-6, 10-13) 9 158941
Farrington (7-6, 9-8) 5 3 12 1333
H. Garcia 12 pts  6/10 FTs
G. Pham 12 pts  3 3pm  1/2 FTs
S. Cabato-Machado 10 tot  2 off  8 def
K. Reverio 12 tot  3 off  9 def
H. Garcia 1 ast
G. Pham 1 ast

PEARL CITY — The Tigers have earned their stripes.

McKinley used a 16-0 first-half run and built a 24-8 halftime lead before holding off Farrington, 41-33, to win the OIA Division II girls basketball championship Wednesday night.

Grace Pham knocked down three triples in the first-half stretch to finish with 12 points while Kailey Reverio notched a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds to help power the Tigers to their eighth overall league title, the school's first since 2008.

"It means a lot especially because we fell short in the semifinals last year," said Pham. "It feels really good to come back stronger this year."

Ayva Wathall scored eight points with seven rebounds and four steals before fouling out in the fourth quarter for McKinley, who used just six players in the game. Haley Hosino scored seven points while Althea Esmas notched four points and eight boards off the bench to round out the scorers for the winning team.

While they lacked depth, the Tigers (10-11 overall, 8-6 OIA) made up for it with defense. The Governors (7-6, 7-6) went 0-for-29 from the field in the first half to help spur McKinley's dominant performance before halftime.

"It's really hard, so we had to work with what we had, said Pham. "Defense wins the game, don't matter what size."

It was a battle of free throws to start as neither team could get one basket to drop early on. Farrington took a 5-3 lead on a pair of Shayniah Cabato-Machado free throws, but Hosino knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing to give McKinley a 6-5 lead at the 2:23 mark of the first quarter, a lead they would not relinquish.

After leading 9-5 after the opening period, the Tigers built on their lead with back-to-back triples by Pham from the right wing to make it a 17-5 lead midway through the second quarter. Pham added another 3-point with 1:06 remaining in the first half to push McKinley's lead to 22-6.

"My job on this team is to shoot the ball," said Pham. "My (inside shot) isn't that great so every time I get a kick out on the drive I'm just going to shoot that ball, eyes on the rim."

Farrington came out firing in the second half and used a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to nine, which forced a McKinley timeout.

"Everybody was kind of tight and pressing, but we just tried to calm them down, play defense and make stops," said coach Donald Kamai.

The stoppage in play allowed the Tigers to refocus as they quickly built the lead up back to 13 and made it a 32-20 game heading into the fourth quarter after a jumper by Wathall just before the buzzer.

The Governors never got closer than seven points the rest of the way as McKinley was able to ride out its strong first half to victory.

"Our transition game was good on offense so it gave them confidence and they put more energy to the defense," said Kamai. "Our transition defense in the first half was good."


Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




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