Girls basketball

Cherilyn Molina of Konawaena and Ciera Kameehonua of Mid-Pacific were named the most outstanding players of their respective divisions at the Snapple/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships on Saturday. Molina was impeccable on both ends of the floor as the Wildcats swept through the tourney to win their third state championship in as many years. Molina, a junior, has been a key part of all three titles in this run. She scored 14 points with four rebounds and five assists in […]

Very little has changed for Bobbie Awa in the 16 years since she became the girls basketball coach at her alma mater. The year 2001 was an oddity for students. The teachers’ strike shortened many things, including the seasons of student-athletes. But it was the beginning for Awa in her first varsity head coach after nearly a decade of starting and coaching the Kona Stingrays club with husband Donald. In ’03, with many of those original Stingrays — including niece […]

Konawaena’s latest state championship in girls basketball may have been its most difficult title-game win, which is saying a lot since the Wildcats now own eight crowns. In a 53-48 thriller against Maryknoll, champion of the ILH, the Wildcats got stellar performances from returning All-State players Celena Jane Molina, Cherilyn Molina — the all-tournament most outstanding player — and Mikayla Tablit. All three were selected to the all-state tournament team. They simply couldn’t do it all on their own, though, […]

The girls basketball state championship has long been coveted in the islands, but it is not just available to anyone. No, the largest of the Koa trophies awaiting its rightful owner at Neal Blaisdell Center tonight is quite picky. After all, there were teams like Lahainaluna, with its mammoth win streak in the Maui Interscholastic League, hoping to return to the title game. Instead, Maryknoll turned the tables and became the fullcourt-pressing aggressor, forcing the speedy Lady Lunas into a […]

And then there were four. The semifinal rounds of the Snapple/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships are upon us. Already. Forgive those of us of a certain age, but we remember when the girls tourney was played entirely at Stan Sheriff Center, four days, one division, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Glory days, indeed. This is a new kind of glory, of course, with a Division II title at stake each season for the state’s smaller schools with championship-level aspirations. Here’s […]

What was once the bastion of private schools has become a public-school thing. It is now eight state girls basketball crowns in the past 13 seasons by teams from the public schools. Or maybe it is neighbor-island dominion. All eight of those public-school titles were by Konawaena (seven) and Lahainaluna (one). Or maybe, just maybe, the reign of Konawaena — seven state titles in the past 13 seasons by one of the smallest public high schools in the state (enrollment […]

The road less traveled is one that Victoria Kintz knows well. The Kaimuki senior has felt the ups and downs of life as a student and athlete, moving from Mid-Pacific to Kaimuki, picking herself up from academic apathy to scholarship peaks. The Bulldogs were OIA runners-up and won their opener in the Snapple/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships on Monday against Nanakuli. They take on ILH champion Maryknoll tonight. Kintz took time out to respond to this Q&A with Hawaii Prep […]