Ex-Iolani athlete is a hot shot in L.A.
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Freshman guard Monica Tokoro scored 19 and 34 points on successive nights on the road for Cal State-Los Angeles and was chosen women's basketball Player of the Week for the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
Tokoro was an all-state player at Iolani School last year and the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's leading scorer over the past four years.
She made two-thirds of her field-goal attempts (20 of 30) and 92 per cent (12 of 13) from the free throw line Friday and Saturday nights as Cal State won games at Sonoma State and San Francisco State.
Her 34-point game Saturday in San Francisco was the highest by a Cal State-L.A. player in 14 years.
The 5-foot-3 guard had 12 assists, 10 rebounds and seven steals in playing 75 of 80 minutes in the two games.
On Saturday she made 14 of 19 field-goal attempts, mainly runners and jump shots off of penetration, she said, and scored 16 of her team's first 17 points. "I surprised myself," she said. "It was the best game I've ever played."
"My dad is coming up this weekend, so I have to top it," Tokoro joked.
One other thing: Tokoro got A's in every class the first quarter.
MORE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
• Concordia (Irvine, Calif.): Senior Aina Kohler (Lahainaluna '98) was selected on the 14-player All-Golden State Athletic Conference team for the second year in a row.
Kohler, who played her first two years at Hawai'i, ranked fifth in the NAIA conference in rebounding (7.9 per game) and 11th in scoring (14.8 per game). Concordia had a 21-8 record.
She was named conference Player of the Week Feb. 10 after the 6-1 forward scored a career-high 34 points and added nine rebounds, four steals and a blocked shot in a victory over Westmont. She made 76.2 percent of her shots (16 of 21) in that game.
Last season, Kohler led Concordia in scoring (15.2 average) and rebounding (8.3) and broke the school single-season record for blocked shots with 59.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
• Scottsdale (Ariz.) JC: Sky Wilson, state co-Player of the Year for Kalaheo's state championship team last season, has started at point guard all season. He averages 11 points and four assists per game and leads the team in minutes played.
"He's done everything we've asked and more," coach Tim Parmeter said. "He's always in the right spot and does the right thing and he's a fierce competitor."
INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
• Michigan: Sophomore Vera Simms (Mililani '00) ran a 56.42 400-meter leg on the Wolverine relay team that won the Big Ten championship Friday night. Simms reached the semifinals of the 60 hurdles and the prelims of the 600.
WRESTLING
• Pacific (Oregon): Senior Kahaa Rezantes (Kamehameha '98) of Kahuku won the 125-pound championship of the Great Lakes Regional in Naperville, Ill., in overtime and qualified for the NCAA Men's Division III national tournament for the first time. Rezantes has a 30-11 record.
Pacific is sending three Hawai'i wrestlers to the NAIA coaches' women's national championships this weekend at Great Falls, Mont. They are junior Jill Remiticado (Iolani '99) at 121 pounds, junior Katie Kunimoto (Castle '99) at 112 pounds and freshman Kristen Fujioka (Castle '01) at 105 pounds. All are highly ranked by TheMat.com. Remiticado won a national women's championship last year.
BASEBALL
• Nebraska: Senior right-hander Shane Komine (Kalani '98) added the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Pitcher of the Week award to his resume yesterday for his eight-inning, one-hit, 14-strikeout game at McNeese State Friday. He was honored Monday by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
