McKinley holds off Farrington, 41-33, to win 7th overall OIA championship

PEARL CITY — The OIA Division II title is going home with the McKinley Tigers.

McKinley used a dominant first half to build a 24-8 halftime lead before holding off Farrington, 41-33, Wednesday night at Pearl City’s gymnasium to win the school’s seventh overall league title.

The Tigers got it done on both ends of the floor to win their first OIA crown since 2008. McKinley held the Governors without a made field goal in the first half and also used a 16-0 run aided by a number of 3-pointers.

“It feels good, the team hard worked really hard,” said McKinley senior Kailey Reverio, the ‘Yeah U Player of the Game.’

“A lot of sacrifices, all the ups and downs, moments where we had to be motivated by our coach to know what the goal was, but we stuck together and we knew what we had to do which is ‘it’s time to put a banner up.’”

Reverio had a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds in the win and was a presence in the paint to limit Farrington’s size advantage.

Neither team could get anything going offensively early with the first eight points of the game coming at the free throw line.

That changed at the 2:23 mark of the first quarter when Haley Hosino knocked down a triple to give McKinley the lead for good, 6-5.

The Tigers continued their hot shooting in the second quarter when Grace Pham knocked down three 3-pointers in the frame. Pham finished with a game-high 12 points.

“They’re great shooters all around,” said Reverio. “We depend on them, we count on them to knock down the 3. When it’s time to clutch it, they do it. Props to them. I love my teammates so much.”

Ayva Walthall scored eight points with seven rebounds and four steals before fouling out while Hosino finished with seven points for McKinley, who just used a six-woman rotation.

Hunter Garcia had 12 points to lead the Governors in the loss.