Girls basketball

Twelve is a lovely number that is welcome in every corner of planet earth. Unless it is state-tourney time in Hawaii. On Monday, the field was trimmed down to eight teams. By the end of today, barring any chain of multi-overtime battles, the Snapple/HHSAA Girls Basketball Division State Championships will be whittled down to four in Division I. As usual, there will be at least one elite-level team ousted in the early going due to the nature of the system […]

It’s time for the Big Dance. It’s also time to see how the hottest team in the OIA, Kalani, will fare against the rest of the state. Here’s how I voted. (All win-loss records as of Saturday, Jan. 20.) Pupule BKG Top 10 01/28/18 1. Maryknoll Spartans (26-2, 10-0 ILH) > Vs. Top 10: 20-2 (.909). 2. St. Francis Saints (23-0, 15-0 ILH D-II) > Vs. Top 10: 4-0 (1.000). 3. Lahainaluna Lunas (20-4, 12-0 MIL D-I) > Vs. Top […]

Twelve days is a mighty long time to go without a game. Somehow, the top-seeded St. Francis Saints will make do when they meet unseeded Castle tonight in the quarterfinals of the Snapple/HHSAA Girls Basketball Division II State Championships. St. Francis is unbeaten and largely rested since winning the ILH D-II championship on Jan. 20. They rallied to edge Hawaii Baptist that night, and have been stellar against Top 10 competition. Kamehameha-Hawaii, Roosevelt and Kauai round out the seeded (league […]

St. Francis might show some signs of struggle this week. Or they might not. After all, at 23-0, the Saints are the top seed at the Snapple/HHSAA State Championships. The Saints, who have a first-round bye and play on Thursday, have played spectacularly well with a 23-0 overall record and top seeding in this tourney. But two key players, sisters Kealani and Savannah Neves, transferred before the regular season. Playing three games in three days with two fewer cogs in […]

The patience of seasoned leaders is hugely valuable at ‘Iolani. Nearly three months into the season, returnees like senior Kellie Okamura and junior point guard Tori Maeda are seeing their ninth-grade teammates blossom. The timing couldn’t have been better on Monday night. Five Raiders, including freshmen Kyra Tanabe (15 points, three treys), Alexis Huntimer (12, two treys) and Lily Lefotu Wahinekapu (11, one trey), scored in double figures to power ‘Iolani over Kahuku 88-47 in the opening round of the […]

For the ninth time in nine weeks, the Lady Spartans of Maryknoll are a unanimous No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Girls Basketball Top 10. Maryknoll (26-2) has not lost to a Hawaii team all season. Sunday’s voting by coaches and media resulted in all 10 first-place votes going to the school on Wilder Avenue. With the boys team also a unanimous pick in their poll, Maryknoll has the No. 1 teams in the girls and boys basketball rankings for a […]