Campbell High Shoring Up Its Offense
In basketball, at least by mid-season, a team can usually be summarized by its statistics.
Such was the case for the Campbell girls basketball team last winter. With that in mind, second-year head coach Summer Aona has made the Sabers’ offensive production a focal point during summer workouts.
“We averaged 30 points a game, and we’d like it to be a lot higher than that,” said Aona, whose Sabers went 3-7 last winter in the OIA West. “We’re slowly building our offense. We’re not there yet, but I see more confidence in our shooting.
“From March through May, we spent time fine- tuning our form on our shooting. We’re shooting better, and we’re taking better shots. A lot of them have improved their range, and we have some girls who are becoming more confident in their shooting.”
They’re preparing for the June 21-23 Mid-Pacific Institute Summer Tournament, where Campbell will be part of an all-star field that includes ILH foes Iolani and Punahou as well as the host Lancers. Also playing are OIA East teams Moanalua and Kaiser.
Campbell will play Iolani June 21 in its opener.
Remaining opponents in the tournament, which has a double-elimination format, will be determined by the results of the first- day games.
Other than the Mid-Pac tourney, the Sabers won’t play in a summer league, but will focus instead on practice time.
“For me, it’s about getting back to the basics and working on basketball fundamentals,” Aona explained. “The work that we’re doing this summer will definitely help us in the long run. I like our energy. The girls are very eager — they think basketball is fun, which is very helpful.
“A lot of those who have been coming out play only one sport, so they’ve been getting a lot of extra attention. They’ve been working at learning new things, and now it’s a matter of them becoming more confident in what I’ m teaching them.
“I think we’ll be a better offensive team, and in the next few weeks we’ll get more into a defensive mind-set.”
Also on Aona’s list of priorities is finding a “coach on the floor” within her roster.
“I’m still looking for someone to step up and be a leader. I haven’t seen anyone stand out (as a leader) yet. What we have is a bunch of consistent girls who come to our workouts, but we’re still searching for our leaders.”
