With only one regular season game left in OIA East and West girls basketball, the OIA playoff brackets are taking shape.
Roosevelt has the East’s top seed locked up at 9-0 overall with a two-game lead over Kaiser (7-2) and Farrington (7-2). The Rough Riders, behind OIA East leading scorer Keala Quinlan (20.0 ppg), played their closest game back on Jan. 6 against the Govs, winning 54-48. That was the only game Quinlan, whose season-high is 31 points against Moanalua, was held to single digits in scoring.
The top two seeds get a first-round bye, which will come down to Saturday’s games. Kaiser, which has head coach Simon Bitanga back, has rattled off seven straight wins since losing the Rough Riders in the opener and then forfeiting a game against Kalaheo. That runs included a 43-37 win over the Govs, giving them the head-to-head tiebreaker. A win over Moanalua on Saturday would make the Cougars the No. 2 seed. Farrington needs Kaiser to lose and a win over Kailua to jump into that No. 2 spot, or else it will open as the East No. 3 seed.
Kahuku, which is the only East team to finish the regular season, is 5-5, but can get the No. 4 seed because of its 62-57 double overtime win over Kailua on Dec. 23. The Surfriders are currently 5-4 and need to win at Farrington get the No. 4 seed, or else would drop to No. 5. Kalani’s 74-72 win over Moanalua on Jan. 13, in which Logan Luke and Noelle Suzuki each scored 18 points, means the Falcons (3-6) get the sixth and final berth over Na Menehune (2-7) no matter what happens on Saturday. Moanalua is out of the playoffs.
Out West, Radford (9-0) can complete an undefeated regular season with a win against Waipahu on Saturday but already has locked up the top seed. Mililani, which finished the regular season 9-1, will be the No. 2 seed.
The next three seeds are also locked up with Leilehua (7-2), Nanakuli (6-3) and Campbell (5-4) seeded in that order.
The big game of the weekend is in Waianae when Kapolei (4-5) faces the Seariders (4-5) for the sixth and final playoff berth. The winner is in and the loser is out.
Kaimuki (6-3), the defending OIA Division II champions, will again be the No. 1 seed in D-II out of the East with McKinley (4-5) and Kalaheo (2-7) following behind. Castle (0-9) is the odd team out.
In the West, Waipahu (3-6) gets the first-round bye, followed by Pearl City (2-7) and Aiea (1-8), which are locked in the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds.
Kalaheo (2-7) will open the D-II playoffs against Pearl City (2-7) while Aiea (1-8) will face McKinley (4-5). Kaimuki will get the Pearl City/Kalaheo winner with Waipahu facing the McKinley/Aiea winner.
The Division I playoffs will begin next Friday while Division II will get underway next Saturday.
The OIA playoffs are here soon and the best game to watch tonight will be Kailua vs Farrington. This game has more positive implications for Kailua and with that makes it more interesting. A win would seal their record at 6-4 and lock 4th place. Kailua’s dynamic duo will battle Farrington’s front court. OC-16 sports will televise this if you can’t see it live.
How do so many OIA coaches get to coach their kids during the black out periods for basketball? It happens in club and clinics during the times when they are supposed to have no contact with their kids. A few low level ILH coaches were caught and got suspended. But high profile OIA coaches do it all the time and there’s no penalty. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that many of the more successful OIA programs are the very ones not following the rules set forth by the OIA. And the ones who are following the rules aren’t doing as well. We all know if some coaches have extra months to work with their kids while others don’t, then it’s a big advantage for them.