"Go-to player" is hardly how Kirsten Liana describes herself on the basketball court.

"I'm not usually greedy, I always like to give up the ball," said the Farrington sophomore.

Her coach, Caroline Tatupu, is also her auntie and describes her as "very shy and often trying to look for a teammate to pass the ball to. Sometimes I tell her she's too giving, but she likes to help her teammates shine rather than herself."

Apparently she's been listening, after all.

Liana scored 38 points in a pair of victories last week to keep the top-ranked Governors unbeaten (6-0) and in the driver's seat in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red East.

"Kirsten is one of those versatile players that can play any position," Tatupu said. "She's been playing really well in the post recently and has come out of her shell and become a consistent post player."

Liana poured in a season-high 20 points in a 75-44 rout of Roosevelt Tuesday and a team-leading 18 points in Saturday's 68-52 win over McKinley.

"Kirsten has slow starts, but once she gets into a groove, she's hard to stop," Tatupu said. "She's very aggressive inside, but she can handle the ball, as well. From the perimeter she can drive and take it to the basket. There aren't many posts that can handle the ball and rebound like she does. She's been a big plus for us."

The Rough Riders also entered Tuesday's game undefeated and had won two OIA titles in the past three years while the Tigers were promoted to the Red after capturing the White title the past two seasons.

"I always expect Roosevelt to be an excellent team and in the preseason, I looked at them as the top team to beat in the OIA," Tatupu said.

However, the opponents mattered little to Liana.

"We kind of treated it like any other game," she said. "We had to play like we always do — and we did — everybody contributed."

The win over McKinley was especially satisfying because Farrington played without its leading scorer — and Liana's cousin — in sophomore Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo.

"I kind of jokingly said to (Liana) that she's would have to step up in that game to fill that void," Tatupu said. "But, she came through for us on the boards and with her scoring."

Still, Liana was quick to deflect the praise.

"It was our whole team, everybody did their job and I just played my game," Liana said. "The guards kept passing me the ball and I just kept taking it."

By now, it's no secret to opponents that the Govs love to feed their post players down-low. But, they also get their kicks on defense.

"We like to pound the ball into the bigs," said the 5-foot-11 Liana. "But we also run press plays — we press full-court man — and we try to get steals and run fastbreaks."

Farrington, which plays Kalani tomorrow, remained atop this week's Advertiser Top 10 poll for the second consecutive week.

"It feels good to be No. 1, but we know that the second round is coming and everyone is going to come out to play us even harder," Liana said.