Farrington's Tua Unutoa reaches up for a rebound against Maryknoll. Melissa Ing | SL

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For the Farrington Governors, they've always known that they'd be here at the end of the season.

“I really do feel it," said Farrington senior Mason Semisi. "It's just that feeling I had from the beginning of the season all the way to now. I knew we was going to be here, it’s a good feeling to have.

"At the start of the season we predicted that we would be here. This is our goal, this is what we wanted."

It is a belief that's been held from the top down, one that was instilled by Governors' coach Allan Silva.

“I told them 'we have a lot of work to do, but you guys can be a state champion.' From day one I told them that," said Silva. "As soon as we selected a team they believed. Now we got to finish it tomorrow."

The road to the championship game may have been a long one, but Silva's confidence in the team gave the Governors' the necessary encouragement to push on through the rigors of the season.

"Our coach said that to everybody that he believes that we was on one of the best teams in the state – so we had that confidence to keep on playing, to keep our head up, to have that mentality to play (with) high stakes," said Farrington senior Jacob McEnroe. "We didn’t know that we could be the best team in the state, but our confidence and mentality helped us stay on the right path."

Now they're here, one game away from a state title, which potentially would be their first since 2011 (Division II). All that stands in the Governors way is top-seeded 'Iolani, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I champs. So is it Farrington's destiny to win the state title? Coach Silva gives us his thoughts on the matter.

“You know what, destiny is caused by actions, things that you feel," said Silva. "When you feel you act. Your actions (then) become your habits, (then) your habits become your performance and (then) your performance becomes your destiny."

Piecing together a banner season

Championships aren’t handed out on a silver platter however. No team makes it to the final game of the season without putting in hard work; no team makes it to the top without climbing a mountain. Before the state tournament, the Governors had to go through the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Division first.

“Our focus was to go step by step, winning the OIA Red championship, then taking it to states,” explained McEnroe. “So far we’ve been working as a team, playing together, not thinking ahead; it got us all the way to the state championship (game).”

The Governors also wouldn’t have made it to this point without a strong team all around. Farrington, the second-seeded team in the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Boys Basketball Championships, is considered to have one of the deepest, most versatile team in the state.

“It helped us a lot,” Semisi said on their depth. “Throughout the whole season, preseason, we were trying to find our way – and then we found out that we have a little bit of everything. Then we worked that throughout the season and then now we’re here this day.”

“We’ve never been this deep,” added Silva. “There’s five guys that play, but we can sub in guards and big guys. It’s nice.” 

Playing in the 12-team state tournament has really allowed the Governors to showcase their depth. Their bench has limited the physical toll of playing games on back-to-back days. Farrington defeated Mililani, 46-44 on Thursday, and Maryknoll, 63-57, to make it into the state final. 

“It helped,” McEnroe said on their depth. “For example, Mililani, they was a speedy team – so what we had to do was play (our) bigs. Maryknoll, they was a shooting team so we had to use our speed. That helped us a lot.”

Bonds that extend far beyond the hardwood floor

Farrington is no stranger to success. For McEnroe, Semisi and most of the seniors on the team, Saturday night’s game won’t be the first championship game the core has played in together, having won back-to-back OIA junior varsity championships in their freshman and sophomore years. It is through these early successes that have the Governors primed for their final game of the season. 

“Winning is a habit, that’s the bottom line,” said Silva. “Whenever you have kids that like to win, they get into the habit of winning – and to win you have to do the right things. Tomorrow night we just got to come out and play. It’s our last game of our season. For our seniors, this is it.” 

Regardless the outcome on Saturday night, this group of Governors has set the bar for the future squads to follow. Not only are they a good example on the court, but off the court as well.

“This team, overall this season, they’re like a family,” said Silva. “I’ve had a lot of teams over the years, good teams, but this team is very family oriented. The difference between this team and all the other teams I’ve had in the past; after practice they stay and they shoot around, they play horse and all of that. They don’t want to leave. 

“This is the only team that I have to force out of the gym, I got to turn of the lights. It’s funny. ‘Go home, you have a house, go home.’ This team is very special. They play hard, they play smart and they play together.”

“We’re super close,” added Semisi. “We’re tight, we’re super tight. I don’t know, I can’t explain the bond we have. From last year’s team, it’s not as strong as this year’s team. We just bond like glue.” 

This special group will have one chance to play together, tonight, 7 p.m. at the Neal Blaisdell Center. Many prep careers will end and the best way to do it is riding it out in the sunset. 

“It’ll be a dream come true,” McEnroe said on the possibility of ending his career with a state title. “Two years we won the OIA JV championship, junior year we fell back, senior year we win OIA Red and states. That’s a kids’ dream right there.”