Iolani senior Robby Mann and Maryknoll sophomore Rhianne Omori posted huge individual efforts to lead their respective teams to victory last week. ScoringLive photo illustration

Purchase image 1 of 1

Male Athlete of the Week: Robby Mann, Iolani basketball
Robby Mann has learned to let the game come to him and its paid off nicely for him.

The 6-foot-1 guard recorded three straight games of at least 20 points to help the Iolani boys basketball team go 3-0 last week in the rigorous Interscholastic League of Honolulu.

Mann, who earned Honorable Mention All-Hawaii distinction last year, started the week off with 20 points in a 64-52 win at eighth-ranked Mid-Pacific Tuesday. Two days later, in a 52-42 win over No. 9 Maryknoll, he had a season-high 26 points, including three 3-pointers. He closed out the week with 21 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 40-35 overtime win over Punahou.

"I would say he's really stepped up for us this season," Raiders coach Dean Shimamoto said of Mann. "He's carried a lot of the load, scoring-wise, even before this week. He may not have had the monster games like (last) week, but he's done a good job for us on the offensive end."

Shimamoto said Mann isn't a flashy scorer, but more of a blue-collar worker.

"I think a lot of his points I don't really realize that he's getting them because he's getting them in such a nice, easy, attacking-the-basket way," Shimamoto said. "When it's not impressive I think it's more impressive. He's working harder for easier baskets."

Mann, whose grandfather is former University Lab boys' coach Bobby Au, is a third-year varsity member and saw limited duty as a sophomore on the Raiders' 2014 state-title winning team.

"He and Hugh (Hogland) and Zach (Gelacio) got spot minutes — enough to feel like they contributed to the championships, but at the same time they knew it wasn't theirs," Shimamoto said. "I think it was a good thing for them to be there to contribute a little bit, but also to see guys like Ikaika (Phillip) and Zach (Buscher) be senior leaders. It drove Robby and some of the other guys over the offseason to see what kind of work needed to be done and they've used it as a blueprint for this year."

Part of his increase in offensive production this season can be traced to Mann altering his mental approach to the game, Shimamoto said.

"I think in the early part of the offseason, he thought that he had to be that star guy and in the preseason he was kind of forcing things a lot, turning it over, taking bad shots," Shimamoto said. "The emphasis became to really let it come to him, to see the holes. He's done a great job of letting the game come to him."

Shimamoto said he's often surprised to learn Mann's final point totals after games.

"You don't realize he scores that many points because he's getting them on easy drives, inside finishes and open 3's," Shimamoto said. "It doesn't seem impressive at the time, but at the end of the day he has 20 points and made 10 free throws. He takes what's there and that's turned out some high-scoring games for him."

It's not, however, by coincidence. Shimamoto said Mann is a tireless worker, especially in the weight room, and is a quiet, but effective leader.

"He's really athletic, but also I think if you look at him as a sophomore and now, his body went through a tremendous transformation," Shimamoto said. "He's leaned up, lost some of that softness in his body and now he looks like a physical specimen. He's one of the hardest working guys in the offseason. The rest of the guys see how hard he lifts, how he goes through conditioning and then he's been producing on the court, so I think he's definitely a guy that sets an example for the rest of the team."

Another trait that has served Mann and the Raiders well is his versatility.

"He's anywhere from a guard to even a center for us," Shimamoto said. "A lot of it is his athleticism on the defensive and offensive end. He can step out and is probably one of our better 3-point shooters, he's probably the best guy finishing at the hole and driving inside, he's one of our better free-throw shooters, so as a scorer he's tough to defend against and he can get inside for offensive rebounds as well."

Mann helped Iolani (8-4) lock up a third straight trip to the state tournament with 14 points in a 47-40 win over No. 3 Saint Louis Monday night.

Female Athlete of the Week: Rhianne Omori, Maryknoll basketball
Rhianne Omori answered the call of her coach Saturday night.

The sophomore point guard scored a career-high 28 points and carried Maryknoll to its second straight Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I championship with its 61-59 double-overtime win over Punahou.

Omori, who entered the game averaging 8.4 points per game, shot 6 of 8 from the field, including 3 of 4 on 3-pointers, and was 7 of 8 on free throws against the Buffanblu.

"I think we kind of went into the game challenging her and Lexi (Delovio)," said Maryknoll coach Chico Furtado, whose team lost to Punahou (52-48) one night prior. "They didn't particularly have a good game Friday night. I told my whole team that when you get into games like this, the best players have something to say about who wins. I mean, it's not rocket science. The best players have to go out and perform and make plays."

Omori did just that, scoring 12 of her points after regulation, which helped make up for the fact that Delovio — a First Team All-ILH guard last year — fouled out 26 seconds into the first overtime period.

"I've told Rhianne that late in games we need her to be more decisive with the basketball and I don't know if she felt that because Lexi was out that it was her turn to get it done, but I'm hoping that this kind of is a catapult game for her toward her really understanding that she can play at this level against anybody because in the past I don't know if she fully realized that or understood that," Furtado said. "When Lexi fouled out in that first overtime, Rhianne did whatever she could to put us in a position to win."

Omori not only had the tying basket to send it into a second overtime, she later had the game-winning shot on a layup with about eight seconds left in the game.

"It was a spread situation and whoever had the ball had to make a play inside of 10 seconds," Furtado said. "Rhianne had made about three of those (layups) prior to that. She was able to get by her man and avoid the help. She wiggled her way under that and was able to scoot it off the glass and in. She had the confidence in herself to go do it; It wasn't like I drew something up in a timeout."

Still, Furtado said he was quite surprised when he tallied up Omori's points after the game.

"I didn't realize she had 28," Furtado said. "She did a number for us. She hit 3's, she balanced getting to the bucket with hitting open shots. As the old guys say, she was in the zone."

With the scheduled departed of Delovio — a four-year starter — and fellow guard Lindsey Lee to graduation this spring, Furtado is hoping he can turn over much of their responsibility to Omori.

"We have three more games before Lexi and Lindsey are done and we're looking for the next set of leadership kids we'll rely on and she's definitely one of them," Furtado said. "I told her there's no need to wait until next year though."

It was the fifth meeting between the Spartans and Buffanblu this season. Furtado's squad has won three times.

After winning the first round of ILH play — and securing a state-tournament berth in the process — Maryknoll dropped the single-elimination tournament final to Punahou, which forced Saturday's winner-take-all final.

Furtado is hoping, however, that his team will make a deeper run in the Division I state tournament, which opens Tuesday.

"The back-to-back (ILH) championships we're obviously very happy about, but we want to go a little bit further in the state," Furtado said. "We lost in the quarters two years ago and the semis last year — to the same team (Lahainaluna) — and we want to get to the championship game, but when you get to this level you've got some good teams you've got to deal with, so we've got to take it one game at a time."

The longtime coach feels his squad is battle-tested for a situation like the 12-team state tournament.

"I think the experience from playing in the ILH and playing in big game after big game has prepared us for tough games," Furtado said.

Omori and the Spartans (13-2), who are seeded third this week, have a first-round bye Tuesday and will open against either Hilo or Radford at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Kalani.

BOYS BASKETBALL
Huthifah Abdel Jawad, McKinley — Scored 24 points in a win over Pearl City

Keinan Agonias, Pahoa — Scored 26 points in a win over Kau

John Baltero, Lanai — Scored 18 points in a loss to Seabury Hall

Charles Caldwell, Keaau — Scored 25 points in a win over Keaau

Rayson Canencia, Saint Louis II — Scored 24 points in a win over Iolani II

Jonathan Charbonneau, Honokaa — Scored 22 points in a loss to Waiakea

Logan Earles, Hawaiian Mission — Scored 21 points in a win over Lanakila Baptist and scored 20 points in a win over Island Pacific

Ace Faumui, Radford — Scored 18 points in a loss to Moanalua

Kolin Galdiano, Damien — Scored 18 points in a win over Hanalani

Isaiah Harris, Christian Academy — Scored 23 points in a loss to Hawaii Baptist and scored 19 points in a loss to Damien

Hugh Hogland, Iolani — Scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a win over Punahou

Kobe Ikari, Kalani — Scored 20 points in a win over Aiea

Kirk Imai, Keaau — Scored 17 points in a win over Hilo and scored 25 points in a win over Laupahoehoe

Kalalani Kaaikala-Caban, Lahainaluna — Scored 21 points in a win over King Kekaulike

Kaeler Kahana, Kamehameha — Scored 20 points in a win over Saint Louis and scored 20 points in a loss to Saint Louis

Mana Kaululaau, Island Pacific — Scored 21 points in a win over Damien II and scored 20 points in a loss to Hawaiian Mission

Reid Kim, Hawaiian Mission — Scored 18 points in a win over Island Pacific

Supilani Mailei, Saint Francis — Scored 20 points in a loss to Damien

Jerrold Mariano, Lanakila Baptist — Scored 17 points in a loss to Hawaiian Mission and scored 24 points in a loss to Damien II

Calvin Mattos, Waiakea — Scored 22 points in a win over Honokaa

Christian Mejia, Kailua — Scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a loss to Kalaheo

Jared Miller, Damien II — Scored 27 points in a win over Lanakila Baptist

Micah Mitchell, Hawaii Baptist — Scored 28 points in a loss to Le Jardin and scored 25 points in a win over Christian Academy

Tristan Nichols, Saint Louis — Scored 23 points in a loss to Kamehameha, scored 16 points in a loss to Punahou and scored 21 points in a win over Kamehameha

Jaymason Nunuha, Saint Louis — Scored 17 points in a loss to Kamehameha and scored 16 points in a loss to Punahou

Christian Ono, Kaimuki — Scored 18 points in a loss to Roosevelt

Isaiah Payne, Seabury Hall — Scored 18 points in a win over Lanai and scored 23 points in a win over Lanai

Saige Pulu, Moanalua — Scored 23 points in a win over Radford

Noa Purcell, Saint Louis — Scored 20 points in a loss to Punahou

Jayvee Quines, Damien — Scored 20 points in a win over Christian Academy

Dane Sakamoto, Kamehameha II — Scored 18 points in a win over Punahou II

Kekai Smith, Kalaheo — Scored 22 points in a win over Kailua

Kellen Takatsuka, Hawaii Baptist — Scored 26 points in a win over Christian Academy

Akahi Troske, Punahou — Scored 20 points in a win over Saint Louis

Sape Tupuola, Pearl City — Scored 19 points in a loss to McKinley

Dan Villejo, McKinley — Scored 20 points in a win over Mililani

Max Weimken, Hawaii Baptist — Scored 18 points in a loss to Le Jardin

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Kaelyn Espinda, Kaimuki — Scored 16 points in a win over Kalaheo

Cameron Fernandez, Lahainaluna — Scored 22 points in a win over Kamehameha-Maui

Julia Fisher, Le Jardin — Scored 16 points in a win over Island Pacific

Briana Harrison, Kohala — Scored 17 points in a win over Pahoa

Moli Heimuli, Farrington — Scored 18 points in a loss to Roosevelt

Ashley Kiko, Roosevelt — Scored 20 points in a win over Farrington

Victoria Kintz, Kaimuki — Scored 16 points in a win over Kalaheo and scored 17 points in a win over McKinley

Kyle Johnson, Radford — Scored 17 points in a win over Farrington

Keleah-Aiko Koloi, Lahainaluna — Scored 16 points in a win over Kamehameha-Maui

Jazmina Lafitaga, Mililani — Scored 16 points in a win over Kailua

Tori Maeda, Iolani — Scored 15 points in a loss to Punahou

Chayse Milne, Maryknoll — Scored 16 points in a loss to Punahou

Tyra Moe, Punahou — Scored 21 points with 12 rebounds in a win over Maryknoll and scored 20 points with 14 rebounds in a loss to Maryknoll

Nicole Pagan-Eldredge, Maui — Scored 17 points in a win over King Kekaulike

Peyton Pedrozo, Island Pacific — Scored 15 points in a loss to Le Jardin

Ashley Peralta, Kamehameha-Maui — Scored 15 points in a win over Baldwin

CC Pollard, Kalaheo — Scored 22 points in a loss to Kaimuki

Rose Shimaoka, Kaiser — Scored 21 points in a win over Kahuku and scored 23 points in a win over Mililani

Kyra Young, University Lab — Scored 25 points in a loss to Hanalani

BOYS SOCCER
Payton Boyd, Mid-Pacific — Scored two goals in a loss to Iolani

Michael Ramos, Pac-Five — Scored two goals in a win over Saint Louis

GIRLS SOCCER
Vanessa Chinen, Castle — Scored two goals in a win over Aiea and scored two goals in a win over Moanalua

Chardonnay Curran, Campbell — Scored two goals in a win over Aiea

Christhena Edwards, Leilehua — Scored two goals in a win over Kaimuki

Sunshine Fontes, Pearl City — Scored three goals in a win over Campbell

Tia Furuta, Mililani — Scored two goals in a win over Moanalua

Dawncey Jones-Black, Kamehameha — Scored three goals in a win over Saint Francis

Kailana Kaeo, Mililani — Scored two goals in a win over Moanalua and the go-ahead goal in a win over Pearl City

Emma Knott, Waialua — Scored two goals in a win over Waianae

Heather Kolona, Kapolei — Scored three goals in a win over Roosevelt

Sara Olanda, Aiea — Scored two goals in a win over Kalani

Asia Ono, Pac-Five — Scored three goals in a win over Saint Francis

Taylor Strong, Kailua — Scored two goals in a win over Nanakuli

Shantel Torres-Benito, Iolani — Scored the lone goal in a win over Punahou

Mia York, Kalaheo — Scored two goals in a win over Leilehua