(Thursday, 11:20 a.m. — Updates with comment from HHSAA.)
New City Nissan is now the title sponsor for Hawaii High School Athletic Association boys and girls state basketball championships.
“We like being involved because there are so many good teams out there,” New City Nissan President John Uekawa said. “A lot of people are interested.”
The HHSAA made the announcement this morning. The girls basketball state tourney will be held Feb. 10-13 and the boys sate tourney will be held Feb. 25-28. The finals for both tournaments will be played at Stan Sheriff Center.
New City Nissan will continue to sponsor the boys and girls state volleyball tournaments, as well as the annual Goodwill Tournament after the softball season. Uekawa is a longtime softball head coach at Maryknoll.
“The good thing about it is, it’s always been good to be involved. It’s an honor to be part of this. It goes both ways,” he said. “We couldn’t let this opportunity go by.”
Hawaiian Airlines was the previous sponsor of the basketball state championships.
“We were very fortunate to have Hawaiian Airlines as a sponsor for many years,” HHSAA executive director Chris Chun said. “Their support was instrumental in putting on our football and basketball championships. Hopefully, they will continue to support our local families that depend on them for interisland travel to attend our state championships. We are very lucky that New City Nissan stepped up at this time.”
HHSAA, Hawaii High School basketball players and family members are excited with a new sponsor in place of Hawaiian Airlines. New City Nissan did a great job with last years girls softball post season tournament. Hopefully we can see something like that for basketball.