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Male Athlete of the Week: Chevan Cordeiro, Saint Louis football
Despite all of the great things Chevan Cordeiro did in Saint Louis' come-from-behind semifinal win over Mililani Friday night, it's what he didn't do that impressed longtime Crusaders quarterbacks coach Vince Passas the most.

Cordeiro threw for a career-best 528 yards with five touchdowns — all of them to fellow-senior Mitchell Quinn — on 24-of-29 passing (82.8 completion percentage) and was not intercepted.

"I thought he did a good job of getting the ball to the receivers and letting them make plays, but mostly not turning the ball over and not putting our defense in bad situations," Passas said of Cordeiro, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound quarterback.

Despite the gaudy final statistics, the game got off to a dubious start for Cordeiro and the Crusaders.

Cordeiro was sacked for a six-yard loss on his first drop back. On the very next play, a holding penalty against an offensive lineman in the end zone resulted in a safety for Mililani.

Passas said Cordeiro made the best of a bad situation in the case of the sack.

"He had that (defensive) end that came up the right field in his throwing range and he didn't want to force it and tried to make a play with his legs and get out there, and then, unfortunately, we had that holding call in the end zone, but we just had to try to stay with our plan."

That they did.

Cordeiro started off 2-of-4 passing before completing his next eight throws, including a short hitch along the left sideline that Quinn turned into a 51-yard TD pass. The scoring play was set-up by an 11-yard scramble by Cordeiro on the final play of the first quarter.

Later in the second quarter, Cordeiro picked up 16 yards to move the chains on another scramble, then hit Jonah Panoke for a 39-yard gain on a deep ball over the middle, and Cordeiro turned the corner for a 10-yard TD run one play later.

"He uses good judgment as far as going down or getting out of bounds when he does run," Passas said. "He's pretty start with that. It's not like Tua, where he was running over people, but Chevan just looks to move the chains, minimize the contact he takes while seeing keeping his eyes downfield and just creating four more opportunities for our offense."

Cordeiro finished with season-highs of 17 carries for 104 yards and leads Saint Louis with 435 rushing yards and 10 TDs on the year.

He came up just a few inches short of his 11th rushing score when he was stuffed at the goal line on third-and-goal on the final play of the first half. Instead of going into the intermission with a lead, the Crusaders trailed, 23-17.

"It's just one of those things that we thought they were going to do this and that didn't happen," Passas said. "We were rolling the dice there maybe, but I knew (Cordeiro) was all right."

Cordeiro was 14-of-17 passing for 210 yards at halftime. In the second half, he was 10 of 12 for 318 yards. Cordeiro hit Quinn for scoring strikes of 50, 69, 57 and 59 yards in the third quarter.

"He found the hot receivers and put the ball on them, and then they did their part after the catch. I thought he did a really good job managing the game," Passas said.

Outside of a 56-50 non-league shootout win against Narbonne (Harbor City, Calif.), Friday marked the first time the Crusaders trailed in a game this season.

Passas said Cordeiro's even-keel approach helped steady the ship over the course of the game.

"Nothing is too big for him," Passas said. "He doesn't get too excited. He just wants to make sure that he's doing the right thing and I think he's done a great job of getting on the same page and trying to do what (offensive coordinator) Ron (Lee) wants us to do in his plan. We're always constantly making adjustments and to process that information in coach Ron's offense, not everybody can do that, and I think it's a real feather in Chevan's cap to be able to do all of that."

For the season, Cordeiro has completed 67.1 percent of his passes for 2,717 yards with 26 TDs against just six interceptions.

"That's a credit to his work ethic. He works really hard at practice and after practice and is always trying to be first in conditioning runs," Passas said. "He's making sure that he's running right with his offensive line and doing extra running after practice and just leading by example."

Cordeiro bided his time as a backup for two seasons while playing the role of understudy to now-Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa.

"This is Chevan's time and his opportunity and he's making the best of it," Passas said. "Playing behind two years of Tua wasn't easy, but he kept sticking with it and working hard and I think he's done a fantastic job for us and I'm going to enjoy my last week with him."

Cordeiro and the top-ranked Crusaders (9-0) will try to defend their Division I-Open state championship when they face second-ranked Kahuku (11-1) in Saturday's 8 p.m. title game at Aloha Stadium.

-Kalani Takase

Female Athlete of the Week: Braeanna Estabillo, Lahainaluna basketball
Braeanna Estabillo got it done on both ends of the floor during Lahainaluna's preseason trip to Oahu.

The senior guard used this opportunity to measure herself against three of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's best teams and averaged 16.7 points per game in the McKinley Girls Basketball Black and Gold Classic that boasted a solid field.

Lahainaluna found themselves down to Iolani throughout the second half. Estabillo sank a 3-pointer and had a steal and layup to close the gap to three points, 39-36 after trailing, 38-31. She managed to score 12 of her 14 points in the second half—seven came in the fourth quarter to go along with five total rebounds before fouling out.

Although the game against Maryknoll was a lopsided affair, Estabillo did what she could for the Lunas to score a team-high 14 points including two 3's.

On the final day of the Black and Gold Classic, Estabillo found her shot early and attacked the rim to give the Lunas the lead, 18-16, 24-19 and 34-32. She shot 50 percent from the field on 10-of-20 shooting to finish with a game-high 22 points.

"It was really good. The first two days out here I felt off. I got used to it and it's a new day and I can't let the past affect me," said Estabillo, on her shooting performances.

"I see it at practice everyday so that doesn't surprise me. Sometimes it frustrates me that she doesn't do it more often. I was pretty pleased with her," said Lahainaluna coach Todd Rickard, on Estabillo's aggressiveness on the offensive end.

Defensively, Estabillo showed a knack for jumping the passing lanes. She had six steals against Iolani and followed up with five more against Kamehameha. She had two consecutive steals and converted them into points to open the fourth quarter to spark an early run to create some separation in the Kamehameha game.

She credited her backcourt mate Rachael Balagso in motivating her to improve her defense. In that game against the Warriors, both of them combined for 11 of the team's 17 steals.

"We train with this everyday. Everyday we go through man pressing and putting responsibilities where players belong. I think they don't have to think what to do, they just react and we repetitiously try to do that," said Rickard, on the steals.

The Lunas look to improve during the preseason and scheduled a game against defending state champion Konawaena in a couple weeks.

-Brandon Ching

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Kawena Kaohimaunu, Konawaena — Scored 17 points in a win over Sacred Hearts

Colby Lane, McKinley — Scored 17 points in a loss to Sacred Hearts

Lily Lefotu Wahinekapu, Iolani — Scored 18 points with nine rebounds, four assists and three steals in a win over Lahainaluna

Char Mae Lubay, Farrington — Scored 17 points in a loss to Sacred Hearts

Te'Hiwa Medeiros, Sacred Hearts — Scored 21 points in a win over McKinley

Taelor Mesa, Kapolei — Scored 18 points in a win over King Kekaulike

Cherilyn Molina, Konawaena — Scored 21 points in a win over Iolani and scored 21 points in a loss to Maryknoll

Rhianne Omori, Maryknoll — Scored 17 points in a win over Lahainaluna

Kianna Vierra, Kamehameha — Scored 21 points in a win over Kalani

FOOTBALL
Frisco Aveau, Kahuku — Recovered two fumbles, had one tackle and broke up a pass in a win over Waianae

Tony Cabral, Waianae — Made three tackles, intercepted a pass, broke up another and forced and recovered a fumble in a loss to Kahuku

Jared Emerson, Kahuku — Made five tackles, intercepted two passes and broke up another in a win over Waianae

Lauina Falatea, Kahuku — Made nine tackles in a win over Waianae

Dillon Gabriel, Mililani — Threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns on 23-of-51 passing with one interception and rushed 12 times for 66 yards in a loss to Saint Louis

Francis Mailo, Waianae — Made 10 tacles and recovered a fumble in a loss to Kahuku

Kilifi Malepeai, Mililani — Caught two touchdown passes in a loss to Saint Louis

Kanai Mauga, Waianae — Made a game-high 12 tackles, including a sack, forced a fumble and broke up two passes in a loss to Kahuku

Samson Reed, Kahuku — Made seven tackles, including 1 1/2 for losses, and forced a fumble in a win over Waianae

Jalen Tuivaiave-Olomua, Mililani — Made five tackles, including three sacks, in a loss to Saint Louis

Mitchell Quinn, Saint Louis — Caught eight passes for 307 yards and five touchdowns in a win over Mililani