Farrington overcomes slow start to top No. 4 seed Baldwin, 50-43

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Farrington's Revelyn Cabaya drives past Baldwin defenders Heidi Namauu, rear, and Isabeau Wai'au. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

But the Governors' post players, Sunshine Misa-Uli and Meleane Mateaki, apparently didn't want their stellar run to end just yet.

Misa-Uli scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Mateaki added 16 points and 13 rebounds as Farrington overcame a lackluster first half for a 50-43 win over No. 4 seed Baldwin.

"We had a really rough start, but as a team we pulled together at the end," Misa-Uli said. "We just have to work on our turnovers and rebounding."

Farrington (12-4), the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's runner-up, committed 14 first-half turnovers and trailed 24-17 at intermission against the scrappy Bears, who had no player taller than 5 feet 9.

Baldwin (13-3), the Maui Interscholastic League champion, compensated for its lack of size with poise and the playmaking of junior guard Kami Kapaku, who scored nine of her team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter. She finished with six steals, five rebounds and four assists.

"They're very disciplined," Misa-Uli said of Baldwin. "They could have took a lot of transition shots but they slowed the game down and ran their plays. They did a really good job on us."

Misa-Uli scored 11 points in the fourth quarter and made two hustle plays on offense to secure the victory.

Her 3-point play with 2:33 to play erased a 41-40 deficit and gave the Governors a 43-41 lead. On that play, Misa-Uli rebounded her own miss and was fouled.

"That was big," Farrington coach Jenic Tumaneng said. "Whenever she gets the ball, she's so aggressive. Even if she misses she's going to be one of the first girls to get her own rebound."

Misa-Uli struck again about two minutes later with Farrington clinging to a 44-41 lead. She rebounded her teammate's missed free throw and scored, giving the Governors a 46-41 lead with 33.3 seconds left.

The Bears led by as many as nine points in the second quarter and had leads of 39-36 and 41-40 in the fourth quarter.

"We kind of got a little intimidated a little bit," Baldwin coach Angel Kalehuawehe said. "We're not used to used to this environment, this type of atmosphere."

The jitters apparently did not faze Baldwin post player Isabeau Wai'au early in the game. The 5-foot-6 senior scored eight of her 11 points in the first half despite drawing a tough defensive assignment on the 6-foot Mateaki. Jenna Mailou, a 5-foot-7 sophomore forward, added six points and eight rebounds.