Sports

Molokai Ballers Not Close Enough

Monday, January 31st, 2011

 

 

The Farmers suffered two tough losses this past weekend at Seabury Hall, but not without putting up a fight. The Farmers were without a key player, Kamakana Duvauchelle-Andrade, who suffered a  sprained ankle earlier in the week.

Before Friday’s game, both the teams were undefeated – but with the help of the Spartans’ Dylan King, Seabury stayed that way.

“Dylan King is an awesome player,very talented,” said assistant coach Rick Schonely”[But]our boys played well. They learned a lot.” 

The Farmers went down on Friday night 58-38. 

Wrestling Makes Steady Progress

Monday, January 31st, 2011

The Molokai wrestling team again dominated their latest Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) meet at Maui High last weekend, with three girls and three boys winning first place in their weight classes.

Paul Valdez (125A lbs), Stanley Kamalii (135B) and Jordan Hao (285) won their individual matches, and Lady Farmers Mikayla Pico (98), Rizpah Torres-Umi (120) and Charisse Manley (130) earned first in their matches.

Other Molokai placers at last Saturday’s tournament:

New Molokai Swimmers Compete

Monday, January 31st, 2011

The Molokai High School swim team sent three of their novice swimmers to alst weekend’s meets, all of whom started their swimming career strong.

Michael Onofrio was the only one to have swum at a previous meet, and dropped four seconds off his 100-yard freestyle.

“It’s showing how much he’s learning,” said coach Jessie Ford. “Swimming takes a while to put all the…fine tuning together.”

Kala Helm and Randy Jacobs also swam at the meet, setting their individual “benchmark” times.

“It’s really exciting, [and] fun to see all the work they’ve done this season,” Ford said. “I thought they looked great and raced well.”

Sabers Down the Farmers

Monday, January 31st, 2011

The Lady Farmers soccer team was again bested by a Maui team, as the Maui High Sabers defeated Molokai in both of last weekend’s games.

Friday’s match wasn’t easy for the Lady Farmers as they suffered seven goals from the Sabers. The final score of 0-7 marked the eleventh loss of the season.

Battle at the Barn

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

Battle at the Barn

In a 30-foot enclosed octagon, local Molokai fighters will spar, punch, wrestle and chokehold opponents for victory and pride.  And you don’t have to sit in front of the TV to see it.

In a 15-fight event, 13 Molokai fighters will go head-to-head with competitors from Maui and Oahu at the first ever mixed martial arts (MMA) event hosted on Molokai this Saturday, Jan. 29 at The Barn.

Competitors are not only battling for pride, they are fighting for you.
 “Molokai has a lot of raw talent and when they travel to other islands they always bring a huge fan base,” said Maui event promoter and MMA trainer Kiha Kaina. “We want to give back to the people, to the fans, and have Molokai fighters battle on Molokai land.”

Giving fans an opportunity to experience the intensity of live fights and support favorite local talent, Kaina and local MMA professional champion Sale Sporat joined together and invited X-1 World Events to host the battle.


The event, dubbed Battle at the Barn, will be the MMA debut for many of the fighters from Molokai Madness and Southside Boxing Club.
“I’m expecting big things from my fighters,” Sproat said. “This is their chance to showcase their talent and give MMA a reason to keep coming back to Molokai.”

The main event will feature 19-year-old Jireh Torres-Umi, one of the youngest MMA fighters who trains under Sproat at Molokai Madness.

Local competitors featured in the fights include: Randen Abafo, Rocci Villa, James Blair,Jireh Torres-Umi, Marlon Lavoi, Kelii Lima, Michael “Baba” Dudoit, Dane Dudoit, Casey Duvachelle, Justin Cook, Mark Ballocanag, Koa Corpuz and Nape Lopes.

Off island fighters include: Gerald Casteneto, Alioune Diop, Aasin Torricer, Damian Niumata, Jon Lucius, Jair Rocha, Micah Ige, Kala Sapala, Marvelous Tevaga, TJ Akima, Eder Valdez, Julius Amisone, and Olo Faamau.

Presale tickets are available at Mana`e Goods and Grindz and NAPA Auto Parts for $20. Tickets will also be sold at the door for $35. Doors open at 4 p.m., and  fights begin at 5 p.m.

Molokai Leads for MIL Paddling Championships

Monday, January 24th, 2011

Molokai Leads for MIL Paddling Championships

The Molokai girls’ paddling team will head to the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) finale next weekend for the first time in the team’s history.

Molokai came in first at 4:37.40 in their race last Saturday at Kahului Harbor, with Leenell Hernandez, Jasmine Borden, Crystal Puaoi-Kawai, Kailana Ritte-Camara, Natalia Levi and brand-new paddler Kachet Kaiama. Main rival Seabury Hall came in at 4:41.40.

“So far that was biggest lead that either of us had on each other,” said coach Tania Kaholoaa. “Four seconds is the most so far, from whole season.”

Heading into the season finale with two wins and two second-places, they have also secured their spot for the state championship, along with Seabury Hall.

our ground.”

The boys’ paddling team did not race last weekend, but will join the girls at Hanakao`o in Lahaina this weekend, racing Jan. 29.

Why the Short Season?

Monday, January 24th, 2011

Community Contributed

By Ke`van Dudoit

Mahalo to all those that came out to support the Molokai Lady Farmers basketball team two weeks ago, in their only two home games of the season. Why was this the only home game you ask? It’s because this year, the MIL Division II league only has three teams.

St. Anthony and Hana dropped out at the end of last year’s season, leaving the league with Molokai, Lanai and Seabury Hall. Now that there are only three teams, the HHSAA will only award the MIL DII League one state berth instead of two because of the number of teams in the league. Each team travels once, to play two games, and stay home to host two games. Our away games this year were Lanai, and we hosted Seabury Hall.

Girls’ Basketball Rolls to Championship Game

Monday, January 24th, 2011

The Lady Farmers won both of their games this past weekend, dominating Maui High and King Kekaulike. They improved to 4-0 in the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) and will go on to the MIL championship game on Friday, Jan. 21.

Molokai played a close game against Maui High on Friday night, but with the help of an early lead in the fourth quarter, and knocking down some key shots, they were able to pull it off. Final score was 48-43, without one of their star players, Kalei Vaivai, who is still out due to a knee injury.

Brianna Tangonan took the reins in her forward position and scored six points, along with Kyli Joe Mawae. Kalei Adolpho was the team’s high scorer with 24 points, and Marissa Sterner had eight points.

Molokai Boys Topple St. Anthony

Monday, January 24th, 2011

Molokai Boys Topple St. Anthony

Maybe it was a size advantage, or maybe it was a home-court advantage; either way, the boys’ basketball team didn’t give St. Anthony’s Trojans a chance this weekend.
The two teams went head-to-head on Friday night and Saturday afternoon at the Barn.

The Farmers came out strong Friday evening, showing they wanted to win more than the Trojans. 

Farmers Kamakana Duvauchelle and Ryan Rapanot towered over their opponents, defending Molokai with multiple steals and blocks.

The Trojan’s passing ability surpassed the Farmers’, who compensated with superb stealing and blocking.

All the action and acrobatic passing skills resulted in a point after point and eventually kicked in the “mercy rule” on the clock. The final score was 51-17.


Duvauchelle ended the game with 14 points under his belt, while Ryan Rapanot led the team with 24 points in the basket.

Rapanot was happy with how his team played.
“I feel we did good,” Rapanot said. “Everybody was playing their role. Everybody knew their assignment and played hard.

“I feel we executed what we wanted to do,” said head coach Lester Delos Reyes. “We played real tough. And not to take anything away from St. Anthony’s, because they really made us work hard on defense. They hold onto the ball well.” It was more of the same from the Farmers on Saturday’s game.

 “I told them to hustle in our pre-game talk and to not let their guard down. And they didn’t,” Delos Reyes said.

Molokai played well defensively, and toward the end of the game, the second string Farmers were sent in to take over the game.

Freshman David Rapanot was able to put down nine points, including two from the arc. His brother Ryan had eight points and Kamakana Duvauchelle had 15. The final score was another trashing 54-22.

“We had a slow start. But we moved on and played together,” said Duvauchelle. “We played our game and the second string did pretty well.”
The Farmers are now 2-0 in the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) and compete against Lanai next weekend, Jan. 21-22, at the Barn.

Wrestlers Improve Record

Monday, January 24th, 2011

Six Molokai boys and girls wrestlers improved their record at last weekend’s tournament held at Kamehameha Maui. Simon Blair (135 lbs), Kevin Dudoit (140), Jordan Hao (285), Mikayla Pico (98), Rizpah Torres-Umi (120) and Charisse Manley (130) all won their matches. Blair and Dudoit remain undefeated this season.

“The guys improved, definitely…Simon Blair won all his matches, still undefeated, that’s pretty significant,” said head coach Randy Manley. “The girls [also] improved from the week before.”

Blair, a senior, said his goal is to win at states. Having gone the last two years without a win, this is his last chance.

“It feels good,” he said of his last season. “But I’m going to miss it.”