Girls basketball

Caiyle Kaupu prefers a quiet, happy life. Too bad for her, the world is finding out that her journey will take her to a new place next summer. The Konawaena senior-to-be gave a oral commitment to play basketball at UC Irvine on Tuesday. “I’m happy that my education is going to be paid for. I’m not sure yet (about a major), but when I get done, at least I’ll have a degree,” she said on Wednesday. Kaupu is a two-time […]

The trip wasn’t quite complete when Kelsie Imai got the best news of her basketball life. After playing with the Kona Stingrays in Oregon and Chicago, Imai and her teammates made a pit stop when Hawaii women’s basketball coach Laura Beeman rang her phone. “We just landed in LA on a layover from Chicago (on Saturday). We had an hour and she called me,” said Imai, who will be a senior at Waiakea this fall. “I think they talked to […]

The Lady Spartans of Maryknoll are surging forward without fail. There is no time to pause, not in the blueprint drawn up by coach Chico Furtado. Maryknoll is deep, talented, young. Nearly the entire lineup from last season’s all-underclassmen team returns. With summer-time success, Furtado dealt with something football coaches have seen for years. Girls basketball coaches are finding the going tougher as talent at high schools shuffles in and out more than ever. During Furtado’s reign at Kalaheo, many […]

Mililani’s loss is Las Vegas’ gain. Dahlis Sablay, the Lady Trojans’ Star-Advertiser All-State selection, will attend school there as a senior. Her mother, Jasmine, and brother, Jett, moved up last week. Dahlis and her father, Demo, will depart this weekend. Her future school is still a question mark. For now, the family is in the South Point area, where Jasmine Sablay’s parents have lived for 21 years. “It’s different from back home. You have to be from the right zone […]

For years, island football players have tested the market. Though the internet and other modern technology have narrowed the gap between mainland college recruiters and Hawaii high school athletes, there are still many families willing to make sacrifices. A growing number have been willing to move to the continent, transferring to programs that are in the midst of the Pac-12 and other conferences. But that was largely relegated to football. Now the trend has picked up in girls basketball. Maryknoll’s […]

Word got around quickly on the Big Island. Then, Star-Advertiser All-State Fab 15 guard Kelsie Imai was called in for a meeting. Imai, Keeli-Jade Smith and Bethany Honma, Waiakea’s co-captains, met with their new coach. Imai didn’t know a thing about Alika Smith, but she’ll learn soon enough that Smith led his previous team at Kalaheo to three boys basketball state titles. Smith replaces Brandon Kauhi, who was released shortly after the girls basketball season ended in February. Waiakea finished […]