Buffanblu hammer Farrington

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Punahou used a tireless running game and the hot-shooting of guard Rachel Kane to blow past Farrington in a semifinal game of the Hawaiian Airlines Girls State Basketball Championship last night.

Farrington's Laosamoa Misa-Uli grabs a loose ball, while Punahou's Christine Takara also reaches for the basketball in the first quarter. Punahou beat Farrington and advanced to the state final against Kahuku. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

"I thought we did a good job pushing the ball up and getting into transition, trying to get some easy baskets," Punahou coach Mike Taylor said. "We really wanted to get our five people beating them down the court."

In the first quarter, Kane helped break a 4-4 tie by scoring eight points — including back-to-back 3-pointers — during a 15-2 run.

"We knew that they were big so we wanted to run, otherwise we couldn't play the half-court game with them," Kane said. "We wanted to get them tired and moving more."

Farrington didn't help its cause by committing eight turnovers, and trailed 19-6 after the first quarter and 30-13 at halftime.

"We missed a few shots in the first few minutes, but we kept firing," Taylor said. "We had our legs under us and we kept hustling. Sooner or later shots are going to fall. Once they started falling everything started to fall into place."

Farrington coach Jenic Tumaneng said his team failed to capitalize on prime scoring opportunities early. Farrington shot 4 of 19 in the first half.

"We had our breaks where we broke their press and ran our offense, but we didn't convert," Tumaneng said. "What broke us early was their transition. They got some transition baskets."

Punahou increased its lead by as many as 20 points in the second quarter and 27 points in the third quarter.

"We decided that we were going to come out and do our best from minute one," Punahou center Becky Hogue said. "This game we knew we had to come out of the blocks and take it to them. I think we did that."

Punahou pulled its starters late in the third quarter, but called them back into the game in the fourth when Farrington mounted a late rally and cut the lead to 54-35 with 3:50 remaining.

"After seeing some of the starters come back for Punahou, I told our girls that showed a lot of respect to them," Tumaneng said. "With a 20-point lead about 5 minutes left in the game, for their starters to come in, they weren't taking any chances of letting this game go."

Elyse Umeda scored 12 points for Punahou.

Farrington's Sunshine Misa-Uli scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds.