Raefe McEnroe sparks Farrington to OIA D-II title

The peak is much closer tonight for the Farrington Governors.

A 56-43 win over Kaiser on Wednesday night makes Farrington an OIA champion for the first time since 2015, when the Govs won the Division I title. They were designated D-II this season, but that didn’t stop them from beating four Top 10 teams during the regular season.

Farrington (15-9) saw their seven-game win streak to start the year end at Kaiser on Jan. 23. The Cougars’ sophomore sensations, Kenji Toyama and Mario Drummer, were superb that night. This time, Farrington didn’t give them much space.

Even out of a 2-3 zone, the Governors were aggressive and matched up on the two scorers. Toyama finished with eight points on 3-for-20 shooting. Drummer shot 6-for-18 and finished with 14 points and four rebounds.

“This was revenge. They ended our streak during the season,” said Farrington senior Raefe McEnroe, who led the Govs with 18 points and 13 boards. “We wanted to emphasize rebounds,”

When the Govs are playing well, they’re running the floor, being patient in halfcourt offense, and opportunistic at the 3-point line. Kaiser’s tough, young squad was in man defense with some fullcourt pressure, but Farrington was efficient at the arc, hitting six of their 10 3-point tries. On the other end, the Govs swarmed and limited Kaiser to 5-for-25 shooting from the arc.

Major point of emphasis for the Govs: rebounding. Farrington outrebounded Kaiser 33-26. Kaiser’s Luke Stevens had 11 rebounds, but was limited to three points.

“Whenever they tried to get open looks, we made sure we got out and helped our guards,” McEnroe said. “Coach Steven (Leopoldo) came back and lifted our spirits.”

Leopoldo was sidelined for two weeks as the school investigated a parent’s complaint.

“They did the job while I wasn’t here,” Leopoldo said. “We made adjustments at halftime and they did what we asked for. They’ve made the sacrifices since day one.”

Farrington and Kaiser (19-14) qualified for state-tournament berths with wins in last week’s semifinal round. Kaiser won the regular-season matchup 62-53.

At McKinley
Kaiser (19-14) 10 11 12 10 — 43
Farrington (15-9) 11 10 15 20 — 56
Kaiser: Koa Tom 2, Nicodemus Garcia 2, Dre Falls 5, Luke Stevens 3, Kenji Toyama 8, Mario Drummer 14, Hunter Dias 9.
Farrington: Johnsen Baptista 3, Felcris Ahadain 8, Modesto Bagaoisan 8, John Domingo 2, Aeman Kurt Castro 10, Raefe McEnroe 18, Pono Roberts 5, Christian Havea 2.
3-point goals: Kaiser 5 (Drummer 2, Toyama, Dias), Farrington 6 (Ahadain 2, McEnroe 2, Baptista, Castro).

OIA Playoffs