Most kids love birthday parties.
Some hate practicing. Some even prefer cake to games.
“Coach, I can’t come to the game on Saturday. I have to go to my friend’s birthday party.”
Not Pua‘ena Herrington. There isn’t a single practice or game the young hoopster ever missed once she discovered basketball as a kindergartener.
“I just felt motivated. I didn’t need to go to a birthday party. I loved basketball since I was young. If I’m going to get good, I need to practice every day. That’s my motivation,” she said.
While young athletes might miss practices and games for various reasons — playing nine consecutive hours of video games, going to an uncle’s dim-sum lunch, or being grounded for bad grades — Herrington relishes anything that provides a challenge on the court and in the classroom.
She kept a 4.0 grade-point average through middle school, rarely needed a push from mom or dad. Every day, after school at Waiakea Elementary and Waiakea Middle, she would stop by her grandmother’s house, get her sneakers on and hop over to nearby Panaewa Gymnasium. Most kids love Disneyland, but not the way Herrington loved working out at Panaewa.
“I’d go to Panaewa gym every day and train with (gym manager and former UH Hilo player) Aukai Wong and his two sons. I would play against UH Hilo men’s players in open gym, basically,” she said. “It was a perfect spot.”
She began playing soccer at 4, and basketball at 5. Herrington stopped playing soccer to focus on basketball when she was 10.
“She played for Brandon Kauhi on B-Elite and I helped out,” said her father, Shannon Herrington. “He and his family moved to Kona, so she went to the Warriors with coach Wohi Huihui.”
Huihui’s daughter, KeanuMarie, was an All-State selection at Kamehameha-Hawaii and now plays for UH Hilo. His son, Kawohi, is a standout junior at Kamehameha-Hawaii.
Herrington was also busy with tee ball and flag football. Shannon Herrington’s bodyboarding days were done. His daughter was everywhere all at once.
“It was crazy, but we asked her, what are you really passionate about? She said, basketball. She liked playing against boys. She was never scared playing bigger teams, older teams,” he said. “She’s had a lot of people who helped her. Aukai training her from seventh grade to 10th grade with his sons. He and Coach Kalani (Silva) gave big support.”
Kalani Silva, who coached Kamehameha-Hawaii to a Division II girls basketball state title in 2007, relocated to Oahu years ago. His son, Isaac, became a standout two-sport athlete at Saint Louis and played football at Columbia. His daughter, Zoe, is best friends with Herrington. They play together on Legacy basketball club.
The ultimate in grassroots basketball on the Big Island sometimes involves the girls who not only compete with boys, but thrive. It was true for former player of the year Lia Galdeira of Konawaena as a youth hoopster and Pop Warner football player. For Herrington, that moment came last summer at a Hilo tournament when she averaged 15 points per game for Shut-D, a club team comprised of mostly Kohala boys. She was named to the All-Tournament team.
“I played for coach Benny (Alcoran), and coach Lawrence (Kauka) coached our championship game. It was a good feeling. On the Big Island, there’s no girls team except Kona Stingrays, so I played with boys. It made me learn to play more physical.”
She spent the summer working specifically on her Euro-step and shooting range.
“I’d spend 90 minutes on my inside footwork like Euro-step, then 90 minutes on 3-point shooting,” she said. “Every day.”
On Saturday, as a Maryknoll junior guard, Herrington and the Spartans led CIF powerhouse Bishop Montgomery in the first half, 20-7. As Maryknoll’s only player taller than 5-8, Herrington, has point-guard vision and shooting guard skills, able to score from all three levels. The Knights, defending champions in CIF Division I, couldn’t quite handle Herrington, who scored 14 points in the first quarter on a variety of shots, including that Euro-step move and NBA, zip-code-distance 3-point range.
Despite the heavy ball denial and physical on-ball pressure by the talented Knights, the 5-foot-10 junior finished the game with 31 points, three assists, two steals and a block. She had only one turnover. Bishop Montgomery rallied behind Curry-esque 9-for-12 shooting from the arc in the second half for a 61-47 win,
“One of our players was sick. Haylie (Perez) is injured. We’re down to eight players,” Herrington said.
It was no coincidence that another premier player, Nihoa Dunn, had 25 points and seven rebounds the day before in Kamehameha’s narrow 55-52 loss to Bishop Montgomery.
“I talked to Nihoa and she was like, ’They talk a lot.’ It’s how they are (on the mainland), so we’re used to it.”
Despite the loss to the Knights, Maryknoll proved one thing: The Spartans are one step away from the highest tier.
“My hope is for us to be competitive day in, day out,” Maryknoll coach Chico Furtado said. “We didn’t go up to Division I saying we’re going to win a state championship. ‘Iolani and Kamehameha in that barnburner state championship last year, they’re ahead of us. We want to be in position for that stretch at the end. Be healthy. Steal a state (tournament) spot. We have to stay healthy.”
Thousands of hours together, a girl and her ball. Two standout years at Waiakea High, twice voted to the Star-Advertiser Girls Basketball All-State Fab 15. As a freshman, her impact was almost immediate, scoring 33 points against Maryknoll in the I Mua Invitational, a game that Maryknoll pulled out in the final minutes.
Herrington scored 17 points per game, but stepped up in the postseason. At the state tournament, she averaged 23 points per game on 53% field-goal shooting and 77% accuracy at the free-throw line. She also grabbed seven rebounds per game.
She was voted No. 14 in the All-State Fab 15.
As a sophomore, she drew closer attention from the rest of the state, landing at No. 4 in the All-State Fab 15. Herrington averaged 19 points per game, again clutching up at the big dance. She had 21 points and 18 rebounds in Waiakea’s 61-44 win over Maryknoll, then had 23 points and nine boards in a 69-66 loss to Lahainaluna. It was the night eventual Player of the Year Lola Donez pumped in a state-tourney-record 41 points.
In the sum of things, though, representing Waiakea after all the years of training was a dream come true. Nothing could be better, right?
Not exactly. After All-State teammate Jolie Mantz graduated, the cupboard was essentially bare. The days of strong feeder programs dotting the landscape in Hilo, of neighborhood teams stoked by generations of coaching families from Andrews Gym to the Piopio Bears, have withered away with time. The cornerstone Vulcan Basketball Camp run by legendary UH Hilo coach Jimmy Yagi and All-Conference point guard Bill O’Rear is now a distant memory.
In nooks and crannies, however, elite coaching is still alive and well in the 2020s. Players like KeanuMarie Huihui, Maela Honma, Mantz and Herrington emerged on the east side of the Big Island. Training young hopefuls from 5 and up, year-round, through its Kona Stingrays club, Konawaena remains an annual state-championship contender with nine titles under Bobbie Awa. In Ka‘u, the development of young players under Ravel Kaupu’s Hokulele Basketball Club has been a boost for the Trojans’ boys and girls teams.
Pahoa’s girls team has ascended as a BIIF Division II title contender. One of Pahoa’s recent wins was a 56-30 rout of Waiakea. Herrington found that hard to believe, but since she transferred to Maryknoll in May, the Warriors are not the same. She has some mixed feelings, but Herrington hasn’t regretted her decision. Neither have the Spartans.
Herrington has been effervescent since playing summer ball with her new teammates. Before she and Zoe Silva played together for Legacy, they played with Dunn on a West Coast Elite select team the summer after eighth grade. The three remain close friends, and Silva never stopped suggesting to Herrington that she should come play basketball full-time on Oahu — and suit up for the maroon and gold.
“Zoe wanted me to come to Maryknoll since before my freshman year. I thought, no, that isn’t going to happen. I couldn’t see myself moving to Oahu,” Herrington said. “After my sophomore year, I started to really think about it. I didn’t know if I was really ready to move, but if I stayed (in Hilo), what opportunities will I have for basketball and playing at a high level in college? I talked to myself about it a lot of times. If I move to Oahu, it helps me with everything.”
She wouldn’t be the first neighbor island athlete to prosper in the ILH or OIA. The Herbig brothers, Nate and Nick, flourished in Saint Louis football after moving from Kauai. Kamehameha gained from the play of Kealani Kimball, from Molokai, not so long ago. Current Kamehameha starting swingman Makenzie Alapai grew up playing for the Kona Stingrays. The list goes on and on.
“Nothing compares to a private school,” Herrington added. “I just think it’ll help me in life, and it already does.”
So far, so good. Maryknoll is 6-3 despite the absence of senior point guard Haylie Perez (ankle). After a one-year stint in Division II — and the school’s first state title in girls hoops since 1978 — the Spartans are back in D-I.
“If Pua doesn’t come here, we stay in D-II. That’s a fact,” Furtado said. “Without her, we’re not any better than we were last year. We lost three starters, and our fourth (center Khansas Tuisamatatele) decided to concentrate on volleyball.”
With an average height of 5-7, Maryknoll relies on speed and tough on-ball defense. The adaptation to a magnetic force like Herrington opens up opportunities for their shooters. The evolution is proceeding accordingly.
At Maui Prep in 2022, the boys team underwent a somewhat similar process. Senior guard Drew Triplett had eye-popping scoring statistics in preseason, but he transformed from a 2-guard into prototype point guard during the regular season. Triplett became the perfect maestro in the Pueo’s D-II state-title run, averaging 17 points and 10 assists per game at states, including an eight-point, 16-assist performance in the final against Kaimuki. What Herrington has that Triplett did not is more exposure.
Herrington is averaging 26 points per game against almost exclusively D-I competition. She had 15 points against CIF powerhouse Mater Dei, 28 against defending OIA champion Kahuku, and 24 against Konawaena.
Furtado, the former ‘Iolani and Chaminade point guard, was part of the development of Hawaii girls basketball with his Hawaii Select summer travel team in the 1990s and 2000s, spending years building a dynasty at Kalaheo before moving on to Maryknoll.
“When I did watch her play, what impressed me most was her motor. When you look at her, she’s not a Brandy Richardson or Lia Galdeira or Shawna Kuehu. She’s slender. She’s lean. You would think she would wear down, but I really love her motor. How hard she played for as long as she’s on the floor. That girl does not take off. Now she’s at our place, she takes nothing off,” Furtado said.
That all-in mentality has Furtado asking Herrington to be a tad more discerning.
“We’re trying to impress upon her to kind of defer sometimes to teammates. You don’t have to make a play every time. It’s even harder now with Haylie out,” he said. “Pua hasn’t disappointed. Sometimes I tell her, ‘They all know you, so they’re going to devise things to stop you. Your confidence level is sky high. There’s nothing you think you can’t do and sometimes that’s a double-edged sword. If you’re being tripled, somebody’s open someplace.”
When defenses back off, well, that’s a choose-your-poison moment.
”She said she didn’t shoot the 3 that much last year. I told her, you’re going to have to shoot that more,” Furtado said. “Our responsibility is to help her play at the next level. Women’s basketball at the college level, that 3-point line is gold. A 5-10 point guard, put a little more muscle on, knock down that shot.”
The comparison is almost parallel. In the mid-1990s, Onaona Miller of Hilo was a freshman sensation, a 5-11 point guard with Pistol Pete handles and scoring ability. She transferred to Punahou, became the Star-Bulletin’s All-State Player of the Year. She matriculated to Yale and played one season.
“When it comes to offensive skill, Onaona Miller didn’t have the range this girl has,” Furtado said.
“Pua is the full package. If she dedicates herself to the weight room a little bit, she’s definitely a D-I person,” Furtado said. “She’s 5-10, comes out of nowhere and blocks perimeter shots. I can’t imagine she’s not going to get some D-I offers.”
This season, Furtado is still conversational on the sideline, but seems unusually quieter than usual, perhaps in part due to Herrington’s basketball IQ — and her impact on and off the floor.
“Pua has that motor and she has that humility. She’s not a boastful kid. She loves her teammates. She’s so serious about her work ethic, but at the same time, she’s such a happy-go-lucky kid. She goofs around with her teammates,” Furtado said.
Herrington does claim to be funny, capable of making her coaches laugh sometimes.
“It’s been very pleasurable having her with us. Her personality is very infectious. If you didn’t know she just joined us this year, you would think she was with us for five years,” Furtado added.
Maryknoll is a community that depends on commitment and trust.
“It’s a very small school. I’m used to a big school. All the kids are disciplined, and they’re all welcoming,” Herrington said. “They asked me why I chose Maryknoll. I said it’s because my best friend is here. We don’t have enough depth, but I feel within our team, we have to believe in us, and we can win. I knew this was going to come, but I’ve got to trust my teammates, that they’ll knock down shots.”
That, of course, depends on getting extra shooting reps every day, and every day is a battle of time management. Herrington gets her training done in the morning, then after practice, more training. Her homework gets done during study hall, a one-hour crunch that saves her from lingering stress and procrastination.
“I want to be everything. I can play inside. I can play outside. It just comes easy to me. If they’re stopping me on my 3, I can drive,” she said. “I take at least 300 shots every day. It’s all mental. If you don’t love it, then you’re not going to work hard. You want to prove everyone wrong. There’s people on their phones a lot. I work out in the morning and afternoon, so I don’t have time to be on my phone. You have to have the heart to want to work out.”
There’s heart aplenty on the roster. After blowout wins over Kapolei and Damien to begin nonconference play, the Spartans took a 64-39 pummeling from Konawaena.
“It showed us where we’re at and where we need to change. That loss helped us play together. It was just me trying to do everything, and here and there my teammates were taking shots. We figured out we need everyone to help us out to win. It’s not a one-man show,” Herrington said. “You set people up with assists. Against Kona, I didn’t really show my leadership.”
Maryknoll opens its ILH schedule at five-time defending state champion ‘Iolani on Wednesday.
Like the Spartans, the Raiders lost a key player, forward/center Callie Pieper, before the season when she chose to focus on volleyball. Herrington doesn’t train for volleyball, but played on the varsity at Waiakea and again this fall for Maryknoll. College coaches have shown an interest.
“Volleyball is where she finally got to play with all girls,” said her mother, Sharyn Herrington. “She played with the Stingrays one summer.”
In the summer of 2021, the Kona Stingrays added Herrington to the roster and went to Kentucky. They were the smallest team in the Run for the Roses tournament.
“They saw the pictures on the (platform) and wanted their picture on it, too. To do that, you have to win the Platinum division, playing girls who are 6 feet,” Sharyn Herrington recalled.
The Stingrays then shocked the competition with a 5-0 record to win the 12U/seventh grade championship.
“We were tremendous underdogs,” Pua‘ena Herrington recalled. “The feeling of winning was like no other. Hawaii teams are just underdogs. It’s just to prove a point.”
Mom and dad made it a policy to never force their middle child to practice, but there she went anyway, a self-driven force of nature. All the way across the state.
“Every day, I think it’s the best decision for her. She has a 3.8 (GPA). You show me all these things you’re doing, and we know it’s the right decision for her,” Sharyn Herrington said. “All the dedication she put into basketball, missing birthday parties, she never regretted it. I just want people to see that she’s put in a lot, and a lot of people have put in time for her.”
Shannon Herrington grew up in Ka‘u. “Pua‘ena” is a Dennis Kamakahi song he heard one day, and it stuck. When his first daughter was born, it all made sense.
“It means, to glow brightly,” he said. “When she came out, she was glowing.”
Pua‘ena Herrington
Maryknoll basketball, volleyball • 5 feet 10 • Junior
Top 3 movies/shows
1. “Outer Banks”
2. “After”
3. “Moana”
“I’m sad that ‘Outer Banks’ is going to end (after next season). But one of the main characters died, so it’s not the same anymore.”
Top 3 foods
1. Taco Bell (chicken chalupa meal)
2. Lucky Charms cereal
3. Watermelon
Top 3 homemade foods
1. Dad’s fried ahi.
2. Dad’s chicken stir fry
3. Dad’s fire grill cheeseburger
Top 3 artists
1. SZA – “Nobody Gets Me”
2. Drake – “Fancy”
3. Frank Ocean – “Godspeed”
Favorite team/athlete: Las Vegas Aces, A’ja Wilson.
“Their team is so disciplined. They play so well with each other. A’ja Wilson just dominates. I want to be like that.”
Funniest teammate: Rebekah Lum Kee
“Anything that comes out of her mouth is funny. She lights up the practice.”
Smartest teammate: Zoe Silva
“She helps me with my work. Zoe’s my best friend.”
Zoe Silva: “Pua is a good friend because she is always there for people, especially me, even in their lowest points. She’s also really funny and knows how to make people laugh.”
GPA: 3.8
“I get most of my homework done during study hall every day.”
Favorite teacher: Ms. (Rhynne) Filisi, Algebra II.
Favorite class: P.E.
Favorite scripture: Philippians 4:13 — I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
My hidden talent: “Is being a comedian. I’m just so funny. I can make anyone laugh on the spot. Coach Chico (Furtado) laughs at my jokes sometimes, actually.”
My new life skill: “Being more independent since moving to Oahu.”
My bucket list: Win a state title. Travel the world (Italy). Sky diving. Play Division I basketball.
Time machine: “I would go back in time when I was in seventh grade when we (Kona Stingrays) won the Run 4 Roses championship (in Kentucky). We were tremendous underdogs and the feeling of winning was like no other. Hawaii teams are just underdogs. It’s just to prove a point.”
Shoutouts: My parents, grandma and papa, my family, Zoe Silva and all my Maryknoll teammates, Panaewa Prep, coach Brandon (Kauhi), Nikki Kauhi, coach Reiny Carvalho, coach Randy (Apele), coach Dom (Pacheco), Auntie Amber (Huihui) and coach Wohi (Huihui), coach Bobbie Awa, coach (Kevin) Yamasaki, coach Trixy (Groaning), coach Kristi (Imai), uncle (James) Nishimura, coach Aries (Perez), coach Chico (Furtado), Aukai Wong, coach Kalani (Silva) and auntie Jodi (Silva).
