Posted on: Sunday, May 27, 2001

'Aiea's dream season was a year in the making

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

Give Santa Claus an assist for 'Aiea High's state girls basketball championship.

Santa and the ability of 'Aiea's coaching staff and players to instill a deep belief that they could be the best team in Hawai'i, even after they had been humiliated by No. 1-ranked Kalaheo in the O'ahu public-school championship game only a few days earlier.

'Aiea shocked Kalaheo 52-45 Monday night at Stan Sheriff Center in the final game of the Hawai 'i High School Athletic Association's silver anniversary tournament.

The result was called a stunning upset by many observers, but not by anyone on the 'Aiea team.

"We were the only ones who truly believed we could do it," Keesha Aldridge, one of 'Aiea's four senior lettermen, said yesterday. "After we watched the tape (of their 16-point defeat in the OIA championship game on May 16), we knew we could beat them."

Building that belief system, and the physical ability to support it, started last June, about three weeks after Kalaheo eliminated 'Aiea from state tournament contention for the second year in a row.

Assistant coach Steve Ichioka, a 1982 Leilehua grad, handled Phase I — strength and endurance. At the peak of pre-season, the 'Aiea girls could run 12 full-out 200-meter sprints, with less than a minute rest between each one, and finish the 12th sprint in a time no more than 15 seconds above the first one.

They followed with 12 100s, 12 50s, 12 30s and 12 10s.

Almost every girl could bench press her body weight and many could squat-lift two times their body weight.

Mental toughness was instilled by hanging for 1 1/2 minutes from a pull-up bar and by holding "quarter-eagles" (staying in a sitting position against a wall, thighs parallel to the floor, as though on an invisible chair, for as long as 10 minutes).Next came motivation, the kuleana of head coach Fran Villarmia-Kahawai, a standout at University of Hawai 'i from 1988-91 and a 1987 'Aiea graduate.

"Being kept out of states last year by Kalaheo was a lot of motivation in itself," Villarmia-Kahawai said. "Some of them had been to states in volleyball or soccer and they knew how it felt."

Villarmia-Kahawai took it further. She and two of her assistants, Ichioka and Shawn Kahawai (who also is her husband and was her high-school sweetheart) lined up at Pearlridge for a photo with Santa Claus.

Villarmia-Kahawai sat on Santa's knee and Kahawai and Ishioka flanked them.

All dead-panned, they held a sign setting out team goals in a "Coach's Wish List:

"1. State Champs!!! 2. 13 college scholarships!!!" and an anti-distraction rule: "3. No boyfriends").

The cards were sent only to the 'Aiea varsity players.

"The Christmas card was totally motivation," Aldridge said. "To do that with all those people watching them at the mall and everything. It showed the dedication our coaches put into our team."

Villarmia-Kahawai didn't stop there.

"I shared with them how when I was in labor with my son the year before, I told doctors I wasn't going to take an epidural (pain-killing shot). They teach you in Lamaze to focus on one thing. My focus was on the state championship trophy ... the whole time when the contractions went up, I squeezed my husband's finger, focused on the state championship trophy, and it got me through the pain," Villarmia-Kahawai said. "The girls were almost crying when they heard the story."

She told Na Ali'i, "We can do it. We have the talent to do it and we have the coaching staff to do it."

In preseason, 'Aiea ended defending state champion Kamehameha's 34-game winning streak, 48-41, at Kamehameha.

'Na Ali 'i gained more confidence and bonding on a successful spring-break trip to Las Vegas.

'Aiea dominated the OIA West season, pre-strike and post-strike, but the season almost became a shambles in the league championship game. Brandy Richardson scored a career-high 41 points and Kalaheo led by as many as 22 points with six minutes left.

"We were fortunate to play them a second time," Villarmia-Kahawai said. And the day break after the state semifinal game (a 63-54 victory over top-seeded Punahou) helped.

"We practiced for an hour Sunday, showing them the corrections they needed to make from the OIA championship game. We said, 'Here is what you need to do. Read the court, make them play defense. . . Being able to see that (in the tape), they understood it more."

Villarmia-Kahawai made one big coaching change for the state final. She insisted that assistant Rod Cavaco ("my mentor" and her coach at 'Aiea) sit next to her on the bench instead of the opposite end, where he likes to reside.

"He didn't want to take the spotlight,' Villarmia-Kahawai said. "I told him, 'I don't care about me, I just care about the team. You're Tex Winters, I'm Phil Jackson... He's our Xs and Os man and I needed him to be right there."

Monday, each 'Aiea player had three semester final exams. Monday night was their toughest final exam, and they aced it.

"Everything came together," Villarmia-Kahawai said. "They executed well. The energy was so much higher than in the OIAs. The students made big difference, there was big section behind us with signs and banners; they were so loud our players couldn't hear us yelling instructions."

And Na Ali'i are off to a good start on those 13 scholarships. Aritta Lane, who scored 35 in the semifinal win over Punahou, has signed with Fresno State; Aldridge has volleyball and academic scholarships to Cal State Dominguez Hills; Joelle Sugai has a soccer scholarship to Hawai 'i, and Kylee Nakamura was weighing opportunities at Linfield (Oregon) and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.

"These are great kids with big hearts," summarized Ichioka. "And Fran is such a class person; this program is all about class."