Farrington outlasts Kaimuki, 75-74 in OT


Farrington's Felcris Ahadain attempts a 3-pointer from the corner. He knocked in the go-ahead free throw with 0.2 seconds remaining in the Govs' win. Greg Yamamoto | SL

He may only be a freshman but Felcris Ahadain hit the biggest free throw with 0.2 seconds to push Farrington (3-3 OIA) past Kaimuki (4-2 OIA), 75-74 in overtime in a Oahu Interscholastic Association East division matchup at Kaimuki.

The Bulldogs, who play in the White East, gave the Govs from the Red East all they could handle.

"That's who we are, we don't go big and the core of the our team is 6-foot and below. We have to play harder to be successful and that's what I like about this team, they don't give up," said Kaimuki coach Greydon Espinda.

With the game tied at 74, Farrington received the ball with 2.3 seconds left. Paul Madamba inbounded a pass, but it was deflected by Billy Masima leaving 1.5 seconds left. Ahadain received the pass and was fouled by Kobe Hedgar on a 3-point shot attempt with 0.2 seconds remaining.

"It was one of those that could've gone either way. They called the foul and we had to live with it. We were hoping they didn't call the foul, but it is what it is," said Espinda.

He missed the first two attempts as the Kaimuki crowd got louder, but he sank the third free throw to ice the game.

"It was a lot of pressure and the crowd was making a lot of noise. I wanted to empty my mind and not focus on the noise outside. I followed through and it worked," said Ahadain.

"I didn't want to go into a second overtime," said Farrington coach Steven Leopoldo, with a sigh of relief. "That's Felcris, after every practice with 1-and-1's. We run and he said, ‘Coach let me shoot the free throw'. Fortunately he came through on the last one and I'm so proud of that guy."

Farrington went 27 of 41 from the free throw line for the game while Kaimuki went 17 of 31.

Kaimuki milked the clock and Lauvao's drive in the paint gave Kaimuki a 66-64 lead with over 10 seconds remaining, but LJ Gonzales answered with a driving bank shot to tie the game with a second remaining. Gonzales finished with 19 points off the bench and Madamba added 11. 

Lauvao tried to throw a full court pass, but it hit the light, giving the ball to the Govs on the baseline. Kaimuki broke up the lob sending the game into overtime.

Miah Fepuleai did most of his damage in the second quarter scoring 13 of his team-high 23 points for the Govs, but he fouled out with 3:40 remaining in overtime.

"I tell these guys not to depend on one person and everyone stepped up," said Leopoldo.

Farrington took a 70-66 lead after Madamba's drive, but Lauvao hit a 3-pointer near the top of the arc as the Bulldogs trailed by one, 70-69 and they called a timeout. The Govs had to over come a big scoring outburst from Lauvao, who scored a game-high 27 points and went 8 of 10 from the free throw line. 

Gonzales' free throw made it 74-72 and Vaitornoa Agor had a blocked shot as Kaimuki got the ball with 11.4 seconds left. Ono, who finished with 18, scored the final three points for the Bulldogs, he made a free throw had a tough putback in the paint to tie the game at 74. 

Kaimuki was down by as much as 13, but went on a 15-3 run to end the first half to take a 36-35 lead at halftime.

Farrington will take on Kalani (0-6 OIA) while Kaimuki will play top-ranked Kaiser (6-0 OIA) on Saturday on the same night.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].