OIA Girls Basketball
Heimuli powers Farrington past Kahuku, 65-39


  

Fri, Jan 16, 2015 @ Radford


Final 1 2 3 4  
Kahuku (5-7, 5-7) 12 591339
Farrington (10-4, 10-5) 19 19 13 1465
Molimau Heimuli 23 pts  5/8 FTs
Cheyenne Teo 9 pts  1/2 FTs




Ironically, Farrington was late for its girls' basketball 'home' game against Kahuku.

That's because the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I doubleheader was at a neutral side - the James Alegre Gymnasium at Radford - because of it was part of an OC 16 XCast.

Did not matter. Not when Molimau Heimuli dominated the floor with game highs of 23 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Governors over the Red Raiders, 65-39, Friday night.

Farrington's bus arrived at its campus just before 5 p.m. The team arrived at Radford about the 5:30 p.m. scheduled tipoff. In the name of safety, the Govs were allowed 15 minutes to warm. It did not take them long to overrun the Red Raiders.

"I thought it would play on our minds," Farrington coach Steven Leopoldo said. "Fortunately, the girls stepped up their game today. They taught me wrong."

The Governors improved to 7-2 in the East, while the Red Raiders dropped to 4-5. The win keeps Farrington in the top four for the 12-team OIA Division I postseason tournament.

"We're in great position for the playoffs," Leopoldo said. "This was a big step right here."

Heimuli's 14 rebounds equaled Kahuku as a team. And she had three steals.

"We just had to box out, play for the ball," Heimuli said.

"Unbelieveable," Leopoldo said of the 5-foot-11 Heimuli's outing. "I think she's the best big (post player) in the state. Nobody can stop her. Nobody can take her one-on-one. They have to double-team us and if the double-team us, we have shooters now."

Indeed.

Heimuli wasn't the only one doing damage on Kahuku. Jazmayne Williams had 17 points with eight rebounds and Allani Talapu added 16, scoring on layups in a devastating transition game.

"We played as a team," said Heimuli, downplaying her performance.

Cheyenne Teo led the Red Raiders with nine points, all coming in the second half.

Farrington jumped out early with a 10-4 lead. Laken Teo tried to carry her team early, scoring the next two baskets - three in the first quarter overall - to pull the Red Raiders to 10-8. That would be the closest Kahuku would get to Farrington. The Govs finished the first quarter with a 19-12 lead.

Talapu owned the second period for Farrington, scoring 12 of her 14 first-half points to give the Govs a commanding 38-19 lead at the half.

Farrington continued to push the tempo on Kahuku, pulling ahead 51-22 at one juncture. The Red Raiders scored the last two field goals of the period to pull to 51-26.

Though Kahuku opened the fourth with the first basket on Brittny Blake's putback, Farrington answered with the only 3-pointer of the game by Williams to make it 54-28. Farrington opened its lead to 29 again at 60-31 before the game ended with a 26-point margin.




Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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