Toss any ball upcourt against the Kaua‘i High School girls basketball team and the chanting will begin.
“Defense! Defense!” the chants go.
Those pipes belong to the family of Red Raider center Jennifer Albuja. They attend all of her games and always cheer for her.
“I can hear them (on the court),” Albuja said. “I love it. When it’s all quiet, they hype it up. It gives me and the team confidence.”
Their chanting is also always nice and loud, a contrast to Albuja’s demeanor.
Albuja, a strong force in the center, is known as a quiet person.
“I guess I am quiet. I like to listen to the coach instead of talk. I like to listen to him and do what he says,” Albuja said.
Albuja, 17, was born in New Jersey. She and her Ecuadorian family moved to Kaua‘i when she was 5. She started playing basketball when she was 8 and took a few years off before returning to the game at Kaua‘i High School.
To this day, the last game of her first year playing at Kaua‘i is the most memorable one so far. It was against Waimea High School.
“I really played my heart out that game,” she said.
The Raiders lost that game.
“I was crying after it,” she said.
Perhaps it’s her strong family support that motivates her to work hard on the court. Either way, first-year Kaua‘i head coach Russell Grady said having her family there is a good thing.
“They cheer a lot. It’s her brother who leads it,” he said. “That family support is good.”
And while she may be quiet, Grady said, that may help her get the job done.
“She does listen very well and I think it’s her work ethic that sets her apart from everyone else,” Grady said.
“Jennifer doesn’t have as much experience as the others. But she’s stepped up and did the best she can do. She’s very dependable on the inside.”
She’s also taken it on herself to watch her teammates’ backs.
“I help cover their backs if they can’t see,” she said.
Being on the inside, she can see the full range of the court and alert her teammates about where to be.
She’s made it a goal this year to always play hard, push the Raiders and make sure they never quit on the court.
She’s more confident that with the start of Round 2 tonight, the Raiders can start winning games.
“I’m more confident, now that we’ve seen how we played the first half (of the season). We play so hard,” she said. “We’re all going to step up and be confident. Now we know we can be at the same level as the other teams.”
A senior, Albuja graduates this May and hopes to study dentistry at the University of Hawai‘i, Manoa.
Jennifer Albuja
Age: 17
Family: Aminta and Gustavo Albuja; two brothers.
Hometown: Originally from New Jersey, now resides in Puhi
Outside hobbies: “I’m in the chorus and I used to play the saxophone. I played when I was in middle school at Chiefess Kamakahelei.”
Life beyond basketball: “I want to go to the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and study dentistry. It’s in the health field and there isn’t a lot of cutting.”
• Lanaly Cabalo, sports editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or lcabalo@kauaipubco.com
