It's best not to sell Tigers short

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Leading undersized McKinley against Mililani tonight will be, front row, Kapena Quisano, Joshua Valdez (holding ball), Abel Werner and Lokahi Holder. Also, back row, Golden Lawrence, Mark Nakatsuka and Iakopo Taumua. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser OIA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT Today at Kalaheo Semifinals 5 p.m. — McKinley (9-4) vs. Mililani (11-0) 6:30 p.m. — Kaimuki (10-3) vs. Kalaheo (11-1) Friday at McKinley Third place game 6:30 p.m. — McKinley/Mililani loser vs. Kaimuki/Kalaheo loser Championship game 8 p.m. — McKinley/Mililani winner vs. Kaimuki/Kalaheo winner

"That's the joke we have, that they're having it here because they figured it'd be a neutral site," Werner said before yesterday's practice. "They probably figured, 'Ah, McKinley won't be in it anyway.'"

To the surprise of many, McKinley is in it.

The undersized Tigers (9-4) will meet Mililani (11-0) at 5 p.m. in today's semifinals at Kalaheo. Kaimuki (10-3) faces the host Mustangs (11-1) in the other semifinal at 6:30. All four teams have earned berths to next week's state tournament, with McKinley set to make its first state tourney appearance since 1989.

"Honestly, I didn't expect us to be in the state tournament, either," said first-year coach Bob Morikuni. "I mean, it was a dream, but we just took it one step at a time. As the season went along, we finally started to have the feeling that it would happen. But people would laugh if we mentioned it."

No one's laughing now, especially not Pearl City and Castle, who fell to the Tigers in last week's first two playoff rounds. Other teams with stronger basketball backgrounds, height and athleticism (Kahuku, Leilehua, Moanalua, Radford) also failed to advance, but McKinley is still standing.

"A lot of people did not believe we could get this far," said senior Lokahi Holder. "But we just believed in ourselves."

The Tigers certainly could not bank on height to carry them. Holder and Werner, McKinley's two leading scorers, each stands 5 feet 8. Point guard Joshua Valdez is 5-5, and shooting guard Kapena Quisano is 5-6. Post player Iakopo Taumua, at 6-2, towers over the other four starters but still gives away inches to many opposing centers.

Morikuni said his team makes up for its lack of height with execution and hustle, along with Holder's great shooting touch and Werner's resourcefulness.

"It's mostly been a matter of teamwork," Morikuni said. "It's kind of like 'Seabiscuit' ... I think the line from the movie was something like, 'If you don't think of yourself as little, you can do great things.' Our guys are small, but they have talent. It's just too bad the talent is inside of little bodies."

Coming together

Werner, an Advertiser All-State first-team quarterback in football, epitomizes the Tigers' tenacity. He started playing organized basketball only two years ago as a third-stringer on the JV, but he eventually became a starter by season's end.

Now he is McKinley's captain and has had a 27-point outing against Kaiser and 23 points versus Kalani, both of them victories. Last week, Werner scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half of a 54-38 win over Pearl City and then scored 11 points — including seven of eight free throws in the fourth period — in an upset of Eastern Division runner-up Castle.

"He may not be a pure basketball player, but he is an athlete who just knows how to get it done on the court," Morikuni said. "He's smart, and he's a leader out there."

Holder, who had a 31-point game against Kahuku and 24 points in a victory over Farrington, has been one of the league's top shooters the past couple seasons. But he said the wins mean much more than the points.

"I've been here for three years, and I want to make it to the big games," Holder said. "I've had my up games and my down games, but as long as we win, that's the main thing. It's not about individual stats, and this year we've accomplished so much more."

Werner said when he was named captain as practice opened in November, he immediately set upon uniting the Tigers.

"I knew we had some football players, some volleyball players, some guys from the Boys Club ... so we had all these little cliques," Werner said. "I wanted us to all be playing with the concept of a team. (Holder) is a hell of a player, he can score. Josh controls our offense at the point. 'Pena is a good spot shooter, and 'Kopo is our monster inside — he'll block shots and grab rebounds. We all came together as a group, and honestly I knew we could make the playoffs and shock people.

"I've played in big games before, so I know what it takes."

Those big games were in football. As a junior, the 145-pound Werner quarterbacked McKinley to the state semifinals, and he says the same values apply to basketball.

"I even had family members doubting us because we don't have height," Werner said. "But I know that in high school sports, you don't need height or speed as much as you need heart."

Passion for the game

The other key element to this year's success, Werner said, is Morikuni. Like Werner, Morikuni first made his mark in another sport, helping Iolani reach the state baseball tournament as a right fielder in 1990.

"I played Division II basketball at Iolani, and I first started coaching at Kaiser (in the mid-1990s) with the JV girls," Morikuni said. "My passion for the game just started growing from there. My two brothers love basketball and are really into it, and my dad (Henry) coached at McCully Gym, so I was always around the game."

Morikuni coached Werner and others on McKinley's JV before being promoted last summer. In his first varsity season, Morikuni has taken the Tigers to only their second state tournament bid in the past three decades.

"I think the credit goes to that man over there," said Werner, pointing to Morikuni. "Nothing against the past coaches, but he doesn't have the military practices and is a man of few words. But I know he inspires me as a player. We may not be a program like Kalaheo's or Moanalua's, but it's our last year and we want to leave something here at McKinley for Coach Bob."

ILH playoffs

Word of Life advances: Shane Lawrence scored 14 points to help Word of Life defeat Maryknoll, 41-30, in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu tournament play-in game last night at Damien.

The Firebrands, a Division II program, will join five Division I teams in the ILH's tournament this week to determine third place and the league's final state tournament berth. ILH champion Iolani and runner-up Punahou already clinched state berths.

Tyler Tsukazaki scored 13 points to lead Maryknoll, a Division I team.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.