Baldwin's Ryan Garces scored a team-high 16 points in a win over Farrington. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Farrington's Isaiah Visoria drives to the basket for a layup against Baldwin. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Baldwin's Josiah Maglente-Tonu puts up a shot attempt over Farrington's Seu Luafatasaga. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Dec 20, 2013 @ Punahou

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Baldwin

56

Farrington

49

Final	1	2	3	4
Baldwin (13-1, 17-5)	22	8	15	11	56
Farrington (10-1, 26-5)	14	14	15	6	49

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

I. Visoria 16 pts  4/4 FTs

R. Garces 20 pts  2 3pm  0/5 FTs

J. McEnroe 9 tot

T. Eldridge 17 tot

I. Smith 2 ast

T. Eldridge 2 ast

MAKIKI -- A monster night from the senior forward was the key to taking down one of the top teams from the Oahu Interscholastic Association.

Teva Eldridge poured in 15 points and 17 rebounds in the semifinal round of the Punahou Boys Basketball Invitational to help No. 9 Baldwin power past No. 2 Farrington, 56-49, Friday night. Eldridge also added seven assists and a blocked shot in the win.  

“This win was good, it boosts our confidence up,” said Eldridge after the game. “We wanted to come down here and challenge the best of the best in the state.”

Farrington, the No. 2 team in the ScoringLive/OC16 Boys Basketball Power Rankings, only suited up eight players, due to some of their players playing in the All-Poly Bowl. The visiting Bears were able to take advantage, dominating the boards, 38-22.

“We knew Farrington was going to be a big team so we just had to put a body on each player and just dominate the boards,” said Eldridge regarding the rebounding battle.

Another element in the Baldwin's win was the effective ball movement between their players. Without a true center, the Bears spread their players around the half court, utilizing only one player in the high post at times. 

“We’re kind of guard oriented,” explained Baldwin Coach Wayne Gushiken. “We had no center, (just) our four in the middle over there; that’s what we kind of wanted to do.”

The lack of a strong post presence really opened up numerous driving lanes for Baldwin, providing opportunities to kick it out to a shooter or a cutter when the defense helps to cover the lane. This offensive strategy helped the Bears assist on 21 of their 25 made field goals.

“Our team isn’t really a cocky team, we learn to play well together,” Eldridge said when told of the team’s assist numbers. “We just transitioned well; most of our starters from my sophomore year is all back. Everybody just learn how to play (well) with each other over the years.”

Baldwin started the game off with a bang, eclipsing 22 points in the first quarter thanks to the Ryan Garces’ hot hand. Garces scored 12 of his game-high 20 points in the first quarter, getting a lot of opened looks thanks to kick outs.

“Thank God Ryan played well tonight because he’s not playing tomorrow,” laughed Gushiken. “He’s going to go back to his senior ball at Baldwin. Maybe that was on his mind so he figured he was going to shoot well tonight, (which) really helped (us).”

After trailing by eight at the end of the first quarter, Farrington became more aggressive in the second quarter, starting it off with an 8-0 run to tie things up at 22-all. The Governors also attacked the rim more often, which allowed them to get into a double bonus situation just midway through the second quarter. Van Hugo’s soft jumper with 2:45 on the clock gave Farrington their first lead of the game at 27-26.

Baldwin was unfazed by the comeback and scored two quick buckets to reclaim the lead. Garces got a bucket off of a Taje Akaka pass and Eldridge blocked a shot right into the hands of point guard Kody Takushi who got an easy fast break score. Farrington’s Isaiah Smith split a pair at the line in the waning moments of the first half to make the score 30-28 at the break.

The two-point differential remained heading into the final period of regulation as both teams scored 15 a piece in the third quarter. Farrington got numerous fast break points thanks to the quick hands of Isaiah Visoria, who finished with a game-high four steals. Visoria also led the team in points, scoring 16 points in the loss. 

With the score being real close to start the fourth quarter, Eldridge began to take over. Eldridge received the entry pass from Jeremiah Badillo and was able to post up on Farrington’s Jacob McEnroe for the high-percentage bucket. McEnroe had Eldridge’s number prior to this sequence, having garnered all of his three blocks on Eldridge. The senior forward later grabbed a defensive rebound and effectively ran a three on one fast break to perfection, dishing it off to Badillo to make it a six-point game. Farrington was unable to recover from this early fourth quarter surge, only scoring six points in the period, the lowest output in any of their preseason games.  

“We wanted to come out here (and play) with the Oahu competition because the Oahu competition is one step ahead of the Maui competition,” Eldridge said.

“It’s good, (this) experience,” Gushiken added. “That’s why we came down here for, we wanted to see what it was like playing against the top teams in the state.”

Baldwin moves on to play No. 1 Punahou in the championship game, in an early 3:30 p.m. game at the Hemmeter Fieldhouse. The Buffanblu dispatched No. 6 Kalaheo, 52-40, in the game that followed. 

“We’re looking forward to playing the No. 1 team in the state,” Eldridge said on their upcoming matchup with Punahou.