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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, June 26, 2001

High school all-stars
Kalaheo's Richardson in a league of her own

All-state girls basketball team
 •  All-league girls basketball teams

Advertiser Staff

Take it from a man who has watched all 25 girls state high school basketball championships and seen every outstanding girls high school player the state has ever produced:

Long-time state girls' basketball coordinator Alex Kane said, "Brandy Richardson is the most dominating player I've ever seen."

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"Brandy Richardson is the most dominating player I've ever seen," says Alex Kane, retired Kailua coach and athletic director and long-time state girls' basketball coordinator.

"She is a complete player on offense, inside and outside, and defense," Kane adds.

Richardson, now graduated from Kalaheo High and headed for the University of California-Santa Barbara, was the overwhelming choice for Player of the Year by a 22-member statewide panel of coaches, officials and media that picked the 2001 All-State Girls Basketball Team.

She received 319 of a possible 330 points from voters.

So dominant was Richardson, in fact, that this is the third straight year she has been chosen Player of the Year, an honor usually accorded a member of the state championship team, even though Kalaheo never won a state title with her.

Also on the first team for the third straight year is Punahou senior guard Milia Macfarlane, who will be seen next in a Wahine uniform at Stan Sheriff Center.

They are joined by Aritta Lane and Kylee Nakamura of state champion 'Aiea, who are headed for Fresno State and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, respectively, and Monica Tokoro, the wo-time Interscholastic League of Honolulu scoring champion from Iolani.

Fran Villarmia-Kahawai, who turned 'Aiea from 16-point losers to Kalaheo in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association championship game to 52-45 victors over the same Mustangs in the state championship game five nights later, was an almost unanimous choice for Coach of the Year.

The talent doesn't end at five players. The second all-state team is led by Baldwin's energizer-bunny, Nicole Garbin, who was state Player of the Year the past two seasons in girls soccer, and Honoka'a's Erika Tadio, the only player in the top 10 who returns next season.

Roosevelt sharp-shooter Jodi Nakashima, who has signed with Boise State; 'Aiea's other "twin tower," Keesha Aldridge, who complemented Lane, and Kamehameha's Tai Soo complete the second team. Six players earned enough votes to win honorable mention.

The superlatives just didn't stop as panel members gave their reasons for selecting Richardson No. 1.

"Not only is she the most physically gifted player in girls basketball, but she has the intangibles to match," wrote Paul Honda, site editor of HawaiiSportsNetwork.com. "Brandy has a rare blend of skills and intelligence that a purist can't help but admire.

"She's the kind of player who gets more joy out of dishing a dime to a cutting teammate than taking a shot. She works her tail off on defense and under the glass.

"And . . . she works just as hard on the sidelines and in practice, leading with grace, laughter and a deeply unselfish attitude."

No Hawai'i basketball fan will soon forget Richardson's 41-point, 14-rebound performance in the OIA championship game. During the strike-interrupted

Eastern Division season she averaged 19.6 points per game.

Roosevelt coach Bobby Keanini noted, "Her numbers could have been huge. She sat down a lot (because of Kalaheo's big leads) and played when she had to play."

"She was," concluded Villarmia-Kahawai, "in a league of her own."

Lane, who scored 35 points and took 19 rebounds in 'Aiea's victory over top-seeded Punahou in a state semifinal game, also received votes for Player of the Year.

"Aritta Lane did it all," said veteran referee Patrick Tanibe. "She played excellent defense, scored, blocked shots, rebounded and motivated and inspired all the other players on her team."

Macfarlane led Punahou into four state tournaments, never finishing lower than third. In three pressure games before the loss to 'Aiea, she made 16-of-20 3-point attempts, including all six in the ILH playoff victory over Kamehameha. Statistician Alan Lau called Macfarlane "the best all-aro-und athlete I've seen in my more than 30 years at Punahou."

Macfarlane had a remarkable ratio of five assists to every turnover and, Lau noted, the ball was taken away from her only three times all season. Her overall field goal and 3-point averages were both 45 percent.

Nakamura was the outside complement to Lane and Aldridge inside. "She's a great ballhandler and great at spotting the open person," said Lau. "Her 3-pointers opened it up for the girls inside."

Villarmia-Kahawai called her crossover dribble the best in the state.

Tokoro, who led the ILH in scoring this season and in 1999 and was second by a fraction last year, "played big for a girl of her stature. It's hard to stop her first step to the basket," noted Nanakuli coach Darin Piliahoha.

Villarmia-Kahawai was praised for 'Aiea's "great game plan against Kalaheo. She made her team believe," Punahou coach Shelly Kahuanui Fey said in a typical voter's comment.

Honoka'a's Daphne Honma, Iolani's first-year head coach Glenn Takara, Punahou's Shelley Kahuanui Fey, and Kalaheo's Chico Furtado also received support for Coach of the Year.

TIPINS: Monica Tokoro and Erika Tadio were second-team selections last season. Tai Soo, Jodi Nakashima and Nicole Garbin moved up from the honorable mention list a year ago.