Farrington wins OIA White over McKinley, 53-35


Farrington guard JP Saycon elevates for a shot attempt against McKinley. Eugene Tanner | SL
Jeffrey Madarang scored a game-high 16 points, including four 3-pointers, to help Farrington rally past McKinley, 53-35, Thursday night to capture the O'ahu Interscholastic Association White boys' basketball championship.

The Governors (15-1) won their 11th consecutive game of the season by rallying from an early 11-2 deficit with an 18-0 run between the first and second quarters to deny the Tigers (13-5) from extending the double-elimination tournament at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium.

"I was feeling my shots and I just kept shooting," Madarang said.

Madarang said being on statewide TV (on OC 16) might have affected the team's nerves at the outset when Farrington fell behind early.

"I think because of TV," Madarang said. "Last year, I choked. Now, I got used to it. I felt kind of good shooting."

JP Seycon and Viane Vaina followed with 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Farrington.

During the Govs' 18-0 run, Madarang drained two 3's to open the second quarter to tie and put the his team ahead for good, 14-11. Later, Seycon dazzled with an around-the-waist layup.

"I think we were a little nervous in the beginning," Farrington coach Allan Silva said. "We came back and put it together."

Rio Kwon led McKinley with 13 points, including three 3s.

Farrington's only loss was to McKinley on Jan. 4.

Farrington and McKinley will represent the OIA in next week's Division II state tournament. The Governors likely would've been competitive in Division I, but their record from last year sent them to the White.

"D2 is very, very competitive," Silva said. "Yeah, we would've like to be in D1 and play all these other competitive teams. But believe me, D2 has some teams that can play D1."

Regardless, Silva doesn't feel D2 diminishes his team's accomplishments.

"Basketball is basketball," he said.






Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].