Sports

Basketball Three-in-a-Row MIL Champs

Wednesday, February 11th, 2015

Junior point guard Hepuakea Falealii said her heart is still pumping hard after last week’s games. Falealii played a big part in Molokai’s two thrilling last-second wins in the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) championship, as the Lady Farmers (13-1) scooped up their third consecutive league title.

Molokai defeated a pair of familiar opponents by a point each, winning against the Hana Dragons 33-32 on Thursday and against the Seabury Hall Spartans 39-38 on Friday. The Lady Farmers have now won seven of the last eight MIL Division II titles.

“The girls did a great job making key plays down the stretch for us to win,” said Head Coach Lee DeRouin.…

Swimmers Fastest in Season Finale

Wednesday, February 11th, 2015

At last week’s MIL championships, Molokai’s swimmers were faster than they’ve been all season—and everyone noticed.

“They’re doing stuff they’ve never done before mentally and physically,” said Head Coach Jess Ford. “The officials and the other coaches, they were like, ‘We saw your kids. They swam so good.’”

On Friday, MIL swimmers competed in preliminary heats before moving on to the final competition on Saturday. Five Molokai boys and two girls made it to the final rounds, competing with the top eight swimmers in the league in each category. Senior Luke Kikukawa was the only Molokai swimmer to officially medal, winning bronze in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of two minutes and 20.22 seconds.…

Farmers Gear Up for MILs, States

Wednesday, February 4th, 2015

Tiebreaker Sends Paddling to States

Molokai’s girls had to race twice on Saturday to earn a place at the state championships. The Farmers finished third in the MIL’s final regatta and came in second in a tie-breaking race to earn the MIL’s last state berth.

“It was pretty intense and really nerve-racking, but we made it,” said paddler Waipuna Kelly-Paleka.

Seabury Hall had already been guaranteed a place before Saturday’s race. After Molokai finished third, the Farmers were locked in a three-way season tie with King Kekaulike and Kamehameha Maui, forcing a second, shorter race.

“Thankfully, during practice I have them do half-mile sprints nearly back to back,” said Head Coach Stefanie Hubbard.…

Girls Basketball Bound for States

Wednesday, January 28th, 2015

With a pair of wins over Seabury Hall (3-7) last weekend, the Lady Farmers (10-0) stayed undefeated, won the regular season crown and guaranteed themselves a spot at the girls’ basketball state tournament in February.

“[It’s] very rewarding,” said senior forward Edel Mae Alvarez of the team’s accomplishments. “Everything—night practices, long boat rides and bus rides—was totally worth it.”

Molokai topped Seabury Hall 42-35 on Friday and 39-30 on Saturday. Lehiwa Pedro and Hepuakea Falealii brought in 10 points apiece on Friday, while Camille Ledesma and Brooke Keliihoomalu each scored 13 in Saturday’s victory.

Although Molokai plays second-place Lanai (7-3) this weekend, the Pine Lasses are three games out of first place and can’t steal the Farmers’ regular season crown in two games.…

Paddling in the Hunt for States

Wednesday, January 28th, 2015

Molokai’s girls’ paddling crew came in third out of six teams at the MIL’s fourth regatta of the season. The Lady Farmers finished in four minutes, 33.05 seconds at Kahului Harbor last Saturday, their best time of the season thus far. Molokai’s crew included Kelsie Espiritu-Tanabe (Seat No. 1), Kaitlynn Reich-Colipano (Seat No. 2), Kamalani Puailihau (Seat No. 3), Waipuna Kelly-Paleka (Seat No. 4), Kysha Kawano (Seat No. 5) and Hiilani Kaiama-Kanuha (Seat No. 6).

“We did quite well on this race, but we feel there’s always room for improvement,” said Kawano. “Our team will be focusing on bettering our turns and finishes and also, ways we can fix our small errors that will help us finish with a better time.”…

Back-to-Back Titles for Molokai Wrestlers

Wednesday, January 28th, 2015

Molokai wrestlers Saydee Makaiwi and Kui Han repeated as champions of their divisions for the second week in a row. Last Saturday at the Farmers’ second meet, Makaiwi took the girls’ 138-pound weight class, while Han won the boys’ 285-pound title over Lahainaluna’s Connor Mowat, who recently went undefeated at the “Battle for the Belt” wrestling tournament in Temecula, Calif.

“Both Kui and Saydee have matured in their skills, and both are working hard in practice,” said Head Coach Randy Manley.

Three Molokai boys had second-place finishes: Caele Manley (113), Rayden DeKneef (152 B) and Jordan Boswell (170). Kailaoe Cabanting, who won the 117-pound division in the Farmers’ first meet on Jan.…

New Swimmers Debut in Meet

Wednesday, January 28th, 2015

In back-to-back MIL swim meets last weekend, the girls’ team finished sixth. Oceana Madani had fifth place finishes in both the 200-meter individual medley (three minutes, 1.82 seconds) and the 100-meter butterfly (1:22.38). On Saturday, Michelle McGuire and Genevieve Kikukawa also took fifth in their categories, McGuire in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:24.89) and Kikukawa in the 100-meter backstroke (1:16.79).

As a team, the girls improved their time in the 200-meter medley relay. After finishing sixth in the event on Jan. 17, the team finished third on Friday (2:14.03), a five-second improvement from the previous meet.

“Every meet is an improvement, especially when they’re close together,” said Head Coach Jess Ford.…

Boys Basketball Maintains Winning Record

Wednesday, January 28th, 2015

By Rick Schonely, Community Reporter

On Senior Night at The Barn last Friday, the St. Anthony Trojans defeated the Molokai Farmers boys basketball, 66-58. The Trojans were led by Michael Fernandez with 23 points. Kekaha Souza added 14 points, and Colby Tam had 13. The Farmers were led by Kaimana Kahale and Moses Espaniola, who had 11 points each. Thomas Tamanaha, Tanielu Aikala-Falealii, Kyson Castor-Wallace and Edel-Marc Alvarez each had seven points.

“We made a lot of mistakes, had some missed assignments and missed a lot of easy baskets, but as a whole I commend them for sticking it out,” said Head Coach Carl Adolpho.…

Farmers Outstanding in their Fields

Wednesday, January 21st, 2015

Molokai High teams made a strong showing against league opponents over the weekend, bringing home wins on the water, the court and the mat.

Wrestling

Molokai’s wrestling team is short on funds but not on talent. On Saturday the Farmers left their first MIL meet of the season with six titles, the most of any team. Lahainaluna had the second best performance with five titles.

“I think we as a team didn’t really expect to do as well as we did,” said Kuikamoku Han, who won the boys’ 285-pound title for Molokai. “We have a lot of new people that are not familiar with the sport.…