Posted on: Tuesday, March 20, 2001

Richardson's return makes Kalaheo team to beat

By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer

Brandy Richardson is going to finish what she started at Kalaheo High School.

Richardson will play her fourth season on the Mustangs' varsity basketball team after making a short side trip to Anaheim, Calif., last summer.

She moved to Anaheim with her mother and siblings, and was supposed to attend Brea Olinda High for her senior season.

But it didn't take long for Richardson, the two-time state Player of the Year, to feel homesick and return to Hawai'i.

"I was up there for a week playing in a tournament in San Diego and I didn't like it at all," Richardson said. "After I came back from San Diego, I jumped on the next plane the next morning.

"I wanted to finish up my senior year at the school I'd been going to and play for coach Chico (Furtado)."

Richardson moved in with her father in Kailua after returning.

Kalaheo, last season's state runner-up, is the three-time defending O'ahu Interscholastic Association champion.

"Brandy is a franchise player," said McKinley coach Jesse Victorino. "They are the team to beat. Until you can beat them they are the top team."

Richardson was the state's most complete offensive player last season.

She scored a career-high 35 points in the OIA championship game against Nanakuli, and scored 18 in the state final against Kamehameha.

"Power, strength, that's her forte," Furtado said. "She's increased her other skills to make her more dangerous. Last year in the state final, she hit three 3's, then she went inside in the second half and got two 3's the old-fashion way."

Richardson plays with reckless abandon, which concerns Furtado at times.

"She has a passion to compete," Furtado said. "I have to pull her out of games when we're winning too big. She'll go and dive on floors when I don't need her doing that. I don't need her to get hurt when we're up by 20."

Richardson is one of only three seniors on the Mustangs' roster, so she will be expected to produce and provide leadership.

"There is a lot of pressure being the Player of the Year two years in a row," said Richardson, who has signed with UC Santa Barbara for next season. "We have (guard) Sharon Wahinekapu gone, so I need to step it up because she carried a lot of the load last year."

McKinley, Roosevelt, Kahuku and Moanalua are also expected to contend for the OIA Eastern Division title.

In addition to Richardson, other returning OIA East first-team members are McKinley's Traci Torralva (5-8, sr., guard) and Roosevelt's Jodi Nakashima (5-7, sr., guard).