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At 4-6 with two regular-season games left, it would be easy to overlook the Le Jardin Bulldogs.
The boys basketball team has improved over time. A Division II state-tourney berth is still in the picture, which is good news for 6-foot-3 sharpshooter Sean McWhinnie.
The senior is averaging 20 points per game despite double-teaming defenses. The presence of bigs Sam Spengler (6-3), Juliun Perkins (6-4) and Stig Regan (6-4) gives the Bulldogs the leeway to let McWhinnie do what he does best: shoot the long-range bomb.
"We have a chance to make states. It just depends," said McWhinnie, who pointed to tonight’s game with Hawaiian Mission and Thursday’s matchup with Christian Academy.
Le Jardin saw something new in last week’s loss to Island Pacific.
"They put a box and one on me. That’s the first team to do that," said McWhinnie, who finished with 16 points. "I don’t want to take bad shots."
If he enjoys carrying a good part of the load, McWhinnie knows it would’ve been lighter elsewhere. After finishing middle school at St. Anthony (Kailua), he considered attending Kalaheo with his friend Wilson MacLeod.
"My parents wanted me to stay (at Le Jardin)," he said.
MacLeod wound up at Academy of the Pacific, now one of the top programs in the state. McWhinnie has embraced life as an underdog.
"I look forward to those kinds of opportunities," he said.
Site switch
Due to hosting obligations for the state girls basketball tournament, Moanalua will not host tonight’s boys game between Pearl City and Na Menehune.
The OIA playoff game has been moved to Farrington at 6 p.m.
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