McColor pours in 24 points as Moanalua fends off Farrington

Moanalua players celebrate after a basket scored against Farrington. Sylvia Lee | SL

KALIHI — LaChae McColor scored a team-high 24 points and Moanalua beat Farrington, 59-55, in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division game Tuesday night.

A crowd of about 120 fans at Richard Kitamura Gymnasium saw the visiting Na Menehune improve to 6-4 overall and 2-0 in league play while the Governors fell to 2-3 and 1-1.

McColor a 5-foot-9 senior guard/forward scored 14 points before halftime and Ciera O'Brien added 10 points, including six of eight free from the free-throw line. Moanalua made 15 of 29 from the charity stripe as a team, including six of 10 in the final 1:50 of the game.

"That's what we've been missing in our preseason so we're really trying to work on getting better at that," Na Menehune coach Tani Almont-Done said.

Post players Jeneva Toilolo and Penina Faumui combined for 47 of the Govs' 57 points. Toilolo scored 16 of her game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter and Faumui recorded 14 of her 21 points in the second and third quarters.

"At this point in our season, we've got to take each game at a time," Almont-Done said. "I took a look at Farrington and they have some big girls and we're not that big, so I knew it was going to be a battle — a defensive battle — and I'm sure we were outrebounded."

Keahi-Iele Roy came off the bench to score nine points, including two fourth-quarter 3-pointers.

Both teams return to the court with road games Thursday. Moanalua visits Kalani while Farrington plays at Kahuku.