Posted on: Wednesday, January 23, 2008
HOMEGROWN REPORT
Freshman Fu starting at point guard for Concordia
By Kalani Takase
Advertiser Staff Writer
Nikki Fu is a long way from home, but when she's on the basketball court, she finds herself in a familiar place.
The freshman at Concordia University in Irvine, Calif. has quickly ascended the depth chart to become the starting point guard for the Eagles.
Concordia is a private school affiliated with the Lutheran Church that has an enrollment of 1,750 students. The Eagles compete in the Golden State Athletic Conference of the NAIA.
Fu, a 2007 graduate of Maryknoll from Honolulu, earned Advertiser second-team All-State honors last season.
"My good friend Jim Bolla at UH was the first one to get me interested in Nikki," said Concordia coach Todd Corman. "I told him of our needs, and he quickly came up with Nikki's name. I owe him a lot."
Fu has distanced herself from two other freshman point guards, averaging 8.5 points per game, second best on the team. She scored 17 points Wednesday against Point Loma Nazarene and 19 against Biola Saturday, both team highs.
Last night, she had 12 points and five rebounds in a 77-76 loss to Hope International. The Eagles fell to 8-10 overall and 2-6 in the Golden State Athletic Conference.
"Nikki has been a very pleasant surprise," said Corman. "She has a knack of being able to come up with big plays when we need them."
Fu is still adjusting to the collegiate level.
"The biggest difference for her I think is that the speed of the game and the level of competition is much greater than she experienced in high school, and add to that the amount of detail she has to digest to be a great point guard," said Corman. "But, she gets better every day."
Ginger Gravelle, a 2004 graduate of 'Iolani from Honolulu, transferred to Concordia following her freshman season at the University of San Francisco.
Gravelle, a junior guard, appeared in all but one game in 2005, starting four. However, offseason shoulder surgery forced her to redshirt last season and ultimately retire this season.
"She has had severe medical issues these past 2 1/2 years, and finally during the Christmas recess she decided she could no longer continue playing," said Corman. "Ginger has a warrior's spirit; she really tried to make a go of it."
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Pepperdine junior wing Taylor Smith (Kalaheo '05 of Kailua) played five minutes in an 80-67 win over Saint Mary's. Smith grabbed two rebounds with one assist and a steal. In Saturday's 71-66 loss to Santa Clara, Smith started and had two points, five rebounds, one assist and a steal in 20 minutes.
Gonzaga (Spokane, Wash.) senior guard Rachel Kane (Punahou '04 of Honolulu) had three points, one rebound and one assist in 16 minutes of a 83-76 win over San Diego Thursday. Kane had four points, one rebound and two assists in 17 minutes of Saturday's 74-70 win over San Francisco.
Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.) junior guard Shanna-Lei Dacanay (Punahou '05 of Honolulu) scored six points, had three rebounds, five assists and two steals in a 76-63 win over Emory Friday.
Cal State East Bay (Hayward, Calif.) senior guard Bre Carson (McKinley '04 of Kailua) had six points and one rebound Thursday's 81-17 win over Pacific Union. Carson had two rebounds and one assist in Saturday's 62-48 win over Bethany.
Middlebury (Vt.) sophomore guard Alana Wall ('Iolani '06 of Honolulu) had four points, two rebounds and two assists in a 64-62 win over Colby Friday. Wall had three points, two rebounds and two steals Saturday in a 54-51 loss to Bowdoin.
Menlo (Atherton, Calif.) senior guard Kepua Lee (Moanalua '04 of Honolulu) had a game-high 19 points with 11 rebounds, four steals and an assist in a 56-41 loss to Dominican Thursday. Junior guard Kelci Fushikoshi (Lahainaluna '05 of Lahaina) added five points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal. Lee had 15 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday's 57-52 loss at Simpson. Fushikoshi added nine points and five rebounds.
Holy Names (Oakland, Calif.) junior guard Larissa Nakasone (Roosevelt '05 of Honolulu) had 13 points, two rebounds, six assists and three steals in a 91-71 win over William Jessup Thursday. Junior guard Chelsie Kadota (Roosevelt '05 of Honolulu) had 11 points, two rebounds and five assists and sophomore forward Mana Camara (Kalani '06 of Honolulu) added 11 points with four rebounds, one assist and a block. Freshman guard C'ani Kealoha (Farrington '07 of Honolulu) had two points, five rebounds, one assist and two steals and freshman guard Jamie-Leigh Ronolo (Moanalua '07 of Honolulu) had two points, four rebounds and one steal.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Colorado School of Mines junior guard Kyle Pape ('Iolani '05 of Honolulu) scored a game-high 31 points with four rebounds and three assists in an 82-76 loss to Colorado Christian. He followed that with 11 points, five rebounds and five assists in a 64-62 loss to Metro State Saturday.
Lewis & Clark College (Portland, Ore.) senior Gene Rivera (Maui '04 of Kahului) scored eight points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked two shots in a 76-55 win over George Fox Friday. Rivera had four points, five rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block in a 82-71 loss to Willamette Saturday.
Linfield (McMinnville, Ore.) sophomore guard Cody Tesoro (Baldwin '05 of Kahului) scored 12 points off the bench, with two rebounds, two assists and a steal in an 84-80 win over Willamette Wednesday. Tesoro had seven points, two boards and one assist in an 81-51 loss to Pacific.
SWIMMING & DIVING
Air Force junior Bryan Avery (Mililani '05 of Mililani) won the 200-yard freestyle (1:41.17) in a dual meet against UNLV Saturday. He finished second (46.61) in the 100-yard freestyle and third (51.57) in the 100-yard butterfly. Junior Kai Yamashiro ('Iolani '05 of Kane'ohe) took second in both the 200-yard backstroke (1.52.44) and 200-yard individual medley (1:56.50), and third (51.78) in the 100-yard backstroke. He also swam the first leg of the winning 200-yard medley relay team (1:31.52). UNLV won the dual meet, 176-123.
North Carolina State junior Andrew Lester (Moanalua '04 of Honolulu) was second in both the 200-yard freestyle (1:43.41) and the 100-yard backstroke (53.61) of Friday's dual meet against Gardner-Webb. N.C. State won, 167-59. In Saturday's dual meet against Clemson, Lester won the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:23.90) and 500-yard freestyle, (4:31.78) and swam the anchor leg of the second-place 400-yard freestyle relay team (3:06.44). However, the Wolf Pack fell short, 165-133, to the Tigers.
Whitworth (Spokane, Wash.) sophomore Quinton Darling (Moanalua '05 of Honolulu) won the 400-yard individual medley (4:20.61) and 500-yard freestyle (5:05.26) of a dual meet against Whitman Friday. He was also on the second-place 200-yard medley relay team (1:45.26). Whitworth beat Whitman, 110-90. Darling won the 200-yard breaststroke (2:21.09) in Saturday's dual meet against Pacific Lutheran. He was also third in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:39.11) and fourth in the 200-yard butterfly (2:16.02). Whitworth won, 140-65.
Middlebury (Vt.) junior Peter Swanson (Punahou '05 of Honolulu) swam the second leg of the sixth-place 400-yard medley relay team (3:57.24) in dual meet Saturday against Hamilton. He also finished seventh in the 50-yard freestyle (23.74). Middlebury beat Hamilton, 171-110.
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Stanford sophomore setter Kawika Shoji ('Iolani '06 of Honolulu) had nine assists and three digs in a sweep of UC Santa Cruz last Tuesday. Freshman libero Jordan Inafuku (Kamehameha '07 of Honolulu) had five digs. Shoji had 46 assists, two kills and 11 digs in a four-game win over USC Friday. Inafuku added 11 digs. USC freshman outside hitter Tri Bourne (Academy of the Pacific '07 of Honolulu) had four kills and nine digs and freshman setter Riley McKibbin (Punahou '06 of Honolulu) had one dig. Shoji had 22 assists, seven kills and five digs in Saturday's four-game loss to Pepperdine and Inafuku added five digs.
UC Irvine junior libero Brent Asuka ('Iolani '05 of 'Aiea) had five digs in a three-game loss to Long Beach State Wednesday. Asuka had eight digs in a four-game loss to UC San Diego Saturday.
Pacific (Stockton, Calif.) freshman libero Colan Ishii (Punahou '07 of 'Aiea) had eight digs in a four-game loss to Pepperdine Friday.
HONORS
Colorado senior linebacker Jordon Dizon (Waimea '04) was named the 2007 National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame Colorado Chapter Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. The organization's board members and sports information directors from each of Colorado's 10 football-playing schools made the selections.
Reach Kalani Takase at ktakase@honoluluadvertiser.com.
| | |
|
|
