Girls basketball

The Maryknoll Spartans were within five points of the nation’s No. 9 team, Clovis West (Fresno, Calif.), on Thursday night. By halftime, down 32-27, they were hanging on despite an ankle injury to starting forward Kamalu Kamakawiwo‘ole. Their underclassman-heavy roster eventually fell behind by 21 before closing the gap in the final few minutes and losing 67-58. Maryknoll, ranked No. 2 in the Star-Advertiser Girls Basketball Top 10, sustained its first loss after 13 wins. Coupled with No. 1 Konawaena’s […]

There’s a reality about heat. Fire. Combustion. Control the intensity, results can be good. Better than good. Allow the temperature to rise above the boiling point, trouble could brew. The most fiery coaches may struggle to communicate with their teams. Sometimes, the most intense teams have a coach who knows the right time to turn the heat up or down. Right now, Konawaena girls basketball coach Bobbie Awa is keeping the tone, and heat, low enough. There’s not much else […]

Depending on the schedule, even with missing scores, the Konawaena Wildcats are either 6-0 or 8-0. Maybe 7-0. Whatever the case, the defending girls basketball state champions were a near unanimous No. 1 pick by coaches and media in Monday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser Top 10. Here’s my look at the girls poll, compared with my ballots. Disclaimer: I don’t treat my ballots as forecasts. I’m not voting based on where the teams will finish. It’s a weekly vote, so I base […]

It’s not going to be easy for the Konawaena girls basketball team to defend its 2015 ‘Iolani Classic title next week. The Wildcats are one of eight teams — four from Hawaii — to participate in the three-day tournament that runs from Thursday to Saturday at ‘Iolani’s Lower Gym. Of the four teams from the mainland flying in for the tournament, three are currently ranked in the top 13 of the USA Today Super 25 Expert rankings released Wednesday. Archbishop Mitty […]

The Maryknoll Spartans are looking more and more like a team without a major flaw. They look a lot like last year’s squad, which reached the final of the HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships and lost to the dynastic Konawaena Wildcats. That’s because most of the team is back, a core group of juniors now in their third season of playing for a coach who is sometimes Santa Claus, sometimes not. Chico Furtado‘s team took command during the second quarter […]