Roosevelt's Kevin Foster puts up a shot attempt against Farrington. Eugene Tanner | SL

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Farrington's Mason Semisi puts up a shot in the paint against Roosevelt. Eugene Tanner | SL

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Farrington's Isaiah Smith drives the ball to the basket against Roosevelt. Eugene Tanner | SL

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Farrington's Jacob McEnroe puts up a shot attempt against Roosevelt. Eugene Tanner | SL

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Farrington's Jacob McEnroe secures a rebound against Roosevelt. Eugene Tanner | SL

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Thu, Feb 6, 2014 @ Farrington

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Roosevelt

63

Farrington

68

Final	1	2	3	4
Roosevelt (8-6, 8-10)	10	21	12	20	63
Farrington (10-1, 26-5)	13	16	19	20	68

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

J. McEnroe 20 pts  4/11 FTs

K. Foster 29 pts  15/18 FTs

J. McEnroe 15 tot  7 off  8 def

K. Foster 8 tot  2 off  6 def

V. Hugo 5 ast

K. Foster 5 ast

KALIHI – A thrilling back-and-forth game saw the Farrington Governors escape with a five-point win on their home court.

Farrington, ranked No. 4 in the ScoringLive/OC16 Boys Basketball Power Rankings, overcame a turnover prone first half to advance over Roosevelt, 68-63 in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Division quarterfinal game at Kitamura Gymnasium Thursday night. The Governors also clinch one of the six OIA berths into the 12-team state tournament with the win.

“It was a great game,” said Farrington coach Allan Silva. “Roosevelt is a tough team. Roosevelt’s guards played really well, especially in the first half. Then we started playing better defense in the second half.

“It was huge because we stayed qualified (for states). We’re still alive for the OIA title and (we’re) now into states.”

With the win the Governors move on to take on Moanalua in the OIA semifinals. Na Menehune earn their ticket into the next round with a 51-48 victory over No. 10 Mililani.

“Always good to win,” said Silva. “It’s playoff time and we got to step it up because everybody is playing well.”

Roosevelt, the fifth-seeded team from the OIA Red East, was without senior Mick Colling, who required stitches after the Rough Riders’ win 64-42 win over Waianae the previous night. Colling averaged 9.3 points per game during the season.

“He’s our only senior so the guys wanted to win for him,” Roosevelt coach Steve Hathaway said. “It hurts losing him because he’s a starter. He’s one of the guys who attacks the rim and plays tall. You lose a guy like Mick, that’s tall to make up.

Farrington’s main advantage in the game was in their dominance on the boards. The Governors finished the game with 55 total rebounds, compared to Roosevelt’s 31.

“That was our key, that was our advantage,” said Silva. 

The rebounding differential over shadowed a monster performance from Roosevelt’s Kevin Foster. The 5-foot-10 junior finished with a game-high 29 points, 15 of those coming from the free throw line.

“He’s shifty because he kept on moving every time,” Farrington’s Jacob McEnroe said on Foster.

Leading the way for the Governors was McEnroe, who finished with a double-double of 20 points and 15 rebounds. McEnroe also added two assists and two blocked shots.

“Our team, we worked together,” said McEnroe. “We worked hard, we never gave up; our bench just gave us the confidence to stay up and keep on playing.”

The Governors started off the game with a bang, getting back-to-back triples from Isaiah Smith to take an early 6-2 lead. This strong start helped Farrington take a 13-10 lead into the second quarter.

Farrington also got a big performance from Van Hugo, who knocked down a give-and-go triple from McEnroe to give the Governors their biggest lead of the first half, 20-14. Hugo finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

However, the Governors could never really pull away from the scrappy Rough Riders, committing 10 first half turnovers to Roosevelt’s two.

“First half we had too many turnovers, it’s a result of too much dribbling instead of passing,” commented Silva.

This allowed the Rough Riders to close out the first half with a 10-3 run, making the score 31-29 at halftime.

“Roosevelt is a really tough team,” said Silva. “Roosevelt’s guards played well, especially in the first half.”

The third quarter was a battle of traded baskets that constantly messed around with the crowd’s emotions. A total of nine lead changes and four ties were recorded in the third quarter alone. The end result saw Farrington rebound from their halftime deficit to take a 48-43 lead heading into the fourth. 

“It showed their character. They came back,” Silva noted. “Our guys stepped up and played some defense.

The catalyst for the Governors late third quarter surge? 

Farrington center Mason Semisi. 

After Farrington’s Pumba Williams fouled out of the game with 2:13 left to play in the third, Semisi came off the bench to fill a huge void in the post. Semisi, a Virginia Union University football commit, finished the game with 10 points and six rebounds in limited time on the court. 

“I’m just happy I got off the bench,” said Semisi. “I wanted to play really bad throughout the whole game. When I came in I just felt it and whatever they gave me I just took it and played my game.” 

Semisi was the spark plug that the Governors were looking for to break the game wide open. Farrington led by as much as 12 points with 1:45 to go in regulation. Roosevelt was able to cut down the lead to as low as four, but ran out of the time needed to complete the comeback and the Governors came away with a five-point victory.

“We’re lucky to get out (with) a dodged bullet,” said Silva.