No. 10 Kalani throttles Farrington, 45-24

Kalani's Alayna Akiona brings the ball up the floor during the first half. Leighland Tagawa | SL

KALIHI — In a battle between the two Oahu Interscholastic Association champions from a season ago, it was the team moving up from Division II that got the victory.

Kalani shook off a slow start to pull away for a 45-24 win over Farrington, the reigning OIA D1 champ, in an OIA Eastern Division contest at Richard S. Kitamura Memorial Fieldhouse Wednesday night.

The tenth-ranked Falcons overcame an injury to junior guard Heidi Kishaba, who led the team in scoring prior to the contest (12 points per game), to earn their third straight win in league play.

"I think after Heidi went down, they were a little tentative," said Kalani coach Chi Mok. "They didn't want to attack the basket. They were kind of shying away from that and just taking runners instead of going to the basket."

But the Falcons (6-6 overall, 3-0 league), adjusted at the break, turning a six-point halftime lead into a 21-point win. Kalani also dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Governors 11-2.

"So we talked to them at halftime," said Mok. "We still have to play, play through it, play strong and that's par of the game. When you watch a teammate go down, that doesn't mean that you guys stop playing. You guys have to continue to play, play for your teammates."

Carrying the load with Kishaba was freshman swingman Alayna Akiona and seniors Logan Luke and Kaylie Espinas.

Akiona knocked down three triples and scored a game-high 15 points with five rebounds, four steals and two blocks in the win. Luke showed her skills in the post and finished with 11 points and eight rebounds while Espinas added nine points, all coming after the first quarter.

Junior point guard Daesha Viela was also key in running the offense. She scored just two points, but racked up seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.

"Sometimes she feels like she has to score more, and I said you don't have to," Mok said of Viela. "You take opportunities when it's there, but your job is to run the show. You're the quarterback, and you're going to make the passes when it's there. You just settle the team down. That's your job as a point guard. She's realizing that so she's slowly getting into the groove."

Pushing the tempo on both ends of the floor benefited the Falcons. Kalani was able to force Farrington (2-5, 1-2) into 26 turnovers with its full court trap.

"Our philosophy is to pressure," said Mok. "We're going to play full court most of the time, depending on the personnel on the court. Hopefully the other team won't be as deep, and then by the third and fourth quarter, they start to wear down, and that was the case tonight."

The Falcons' depth and speed also helped them dominate the offensive glass as they outrebounded a larger Farrington team, 42 to 33.

Alana Talapu had eight points and Shayla Cabato-Machado added seven more with seven rebounds to lead Farrington in the loss.

Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].