Girls basketball

The most experienced team in the state tournament met the youngest squad. The outcome wasn’t entirely surprising. Top-seeded Maryknoll’s 75-40 win over BIIF runner-up Waiakea was speed against speed, except the Spartans have a battalion of athletes with height, length, four ILH championships and two finals appearances. The Lady Spartans, now 28-2 overall (including nonconference games) also had balance against a tough-nosed Warriors squad. “We want to play aggressive. We want to play with intensity. We want to use our […]

The Saints keep marching and Hawaii Baptist is out of contention as the semifinal round of the Snapple/HHSAA Girls Basketball Division II State Championships tonight. St. Francis eliminated the hustling Knights of Castle 63-43 on Thursday in quarterfinal action at Kaimuki. In the other quarter there, Honokaa made it two wins in two nights, edging KIF champion Kauai 28-26. In the other sub-bracket at Kalani, second-seeded Kamehameha-Hawaii rolled over Le Jardin 53-21 and third-seeded Roosevelt ousted ILH runner-up Hawaii Baptist […]

Waiakea advanced. ‘Iolani did not. The final four of the Snapple/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships are set for tonight’s clashes at Blaisdell Center. Waiakea, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up, eked out a 55-54 come-from-behind overtime win over Oahu Interscholastic Association champion Kalani on Thursday night at Moanalua gym. Waiakea is the only unseeded team to advance to the semifinals. The Warriors do not have a single senior on their roster. At McKinley, Lahainaluna survived, as well, fending off a […]

The season has progressed stage by stage for the Konawaena Wildcats. On Thursday night in the quarterfinal round of the Snapple/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships, Coach Bobbie Awa knew, as always, precisely how to unlock her team’s superpowers. “We played a nice second half. We actually got some transition buckets. We should’ve been doing that all along,” said Awa, who has guided the Wildcats to eight state crowns in the past 14 seasons. That reluctance to run early may have […]

In a game that could’ve been fitted on a raceway, the final minutes of Lahainaluna-‘Iolani instead turned into survival of the fittest. Maybe luckiest. Or most opportunistic. Third-seeded Lahainaluna’s 38-36 win over ‘Iolani in the quarterfinals of the Snapple/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships on Thursday night was epic, confounding and, ultimately, relief for the Lunas and heartbreak for the young Raiders. “We advanced,” longtime Lahainaluna coach Todd Rickard said. “That’s the main thing.” As expected, the matchup between Lahainaluna (21-4) […]

For the first time since 2009, the No. 1 seed in the Snapple/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships is a team from the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. Four-time defending league champion Maryknoll is the top seed as it tries to break through for its first state title since 1978. The Spartans have lost to three-time defending state champion Konawaena in the final in each of the previous two seasons. The Wildcats, who have won eight of the last 14 Division I […]

ILH champion St. Francis ticked another box on its list of accomplishments. The Saints drew the top seed in the Division II portion of the HHSAA Girls Basketball state championships, the first time in the history of the program they have been seeded. St. Francis has been in the last five tournaments, but hasn’t reached the final since 2005. The Saints are followed by fellow champions KS-Hawaii (second), Roosevelt (third) and Kauai (fourth). Those teams have the benefit of waiting […]

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 […]