Powerhouses ‘Iolani and Konawaena open the girls basketball season atop the Star-Advertiser Girls Basketball Top 10.
‘Iolani (2-2), the two-time defending state champions prior to the pandemic, collected five first-place votes from the panel of coaches and media. The Raiders are coming off a 73-30 win over Kapolei.
Konawaena (0-0), currently in tournament play in Arizona, secured the other five first-place votes.
Maryknoll (4-2) started preseason hot before injuries took a toll and is currently No. 3. Lahainaluna (1-2) and Kamehameha (2-2) round out the top five.
Week 1 (first-place) Pts LW
1. (tie) ‘Iolani (5) 95 –
1. (tie) Konawaena (5) 95 –
3. Maryknoll 71 –
4. Lahainaluna 69 –
5. Kamehameha 52 –
6. Punahou 44 –
7. Kahuku 32 –
8. Maui 27 –
9. Waiakea 24 –
10. Hilo 16 –
Also receiving votes: Damien 5, Mililani 5, Roosevelt 4, Leilehua 3, Radford 3, Kalani 2, Campbell 1, Hanalani 1, Moanalua 1.
Punahou probably higher
Really , I agree with your top 4 . Heard Punahou has some high upside . I’m really not up to date with some of the other teams . Lahainaluna looked green . Saw some other teams in iolani classic and saw some early season struggles . Someone mentioned at the classic what Kona would’ve looked like had they not had the transfers come in yrs ago . Didn’t know that . Only knew kauhi transferred
Based on the observations above, it sounds like Iolani and Konawaena are the only contenders for D1 state champs this year. Hopefully it comes down to a good championship game.
Maybe D2 will have more teams in the running.
Keep the info coming
I think everybody who follows high school sports knows about Kamehameha athletics. Lots of politics and all about who you know over there. I recall there were grumblings about the boys basketball coaching selection too.
As for Maryknoll, there must be a story behind Coach Chico supposedly stepping away as head coach but yet somehow still on the staff.
Maryknoll is never gonna be successful with the coaching staff that’s in place. There will always be favoritism if coaching daddy’s is on the staff.
Is lightning a feeder program for maryknoll ?
Sometimes the coaches with all the accolades are not the best fits for prospective schools . Some of them have favoritism as well and have no discipline. Taking winning at all cost to another level . On the other hand some are the best at what they do . Just my thoughts happy holidays
Hopefully things get better
@fullcourt Yeah I believe that lightning is trying to feed Maryknoll. I think Chico is really regretting on the new coaching staff.
@really
My niece goes to Maryknoll and sat out this past season. The parents took her there for Chico not realizing he was giving the HC position to Tony. She’s transferring out. What a big loss for that program.
Good thing she’s still young and haven’t played a minute so I don’t think she needs to redshirt. Correct me if im wrong.
Hmm. If good coaching is so important, then wouldn’t all these players be transferring to Konaweana? Based on the team’s accomplishments and record over the past 17 years, the best coach in Hawaii is Konawaena’s Bobbie Awa. Year in and year out, her teams play with passion, discipline, and smartness even though they don’t always have size or talent or the numbers (of players). Their consistency is an obvious mark of good coaching.
@ casual observer, Kona is a solid program no doubt but do you know that they’ve had transfers all the time that has helped them stay on the top . Galdeira , victor ,Lahaina girls, tablit, Salazar , kauhi . People talk about poaching players here in Oahu but it happens all over . This is not a knock on Kona but it’s the facts that some years transfers have been huge for them .I’m sure the coach would agree
@Fullcourt, Kona caught my attention in 2004 when they played Punahou for the championship and I have followed their progress/results since then (casually). Coincidentally, 2004 was when Bobby Awa took over as the head coach. Their play is consistent, even with reserves coming off the bench. Watching Kona and Awa in the championship game against Maryknoll, when Maryknoll was coached by Chico Furtado and had a bevy of talented, returning players, the styles of Awa and Furtado was an interesting contrast. Awa was so calm you wouldn’t know it was a championship game. Except for Galdeira, the talent on the Kona roster isn’t greater than other schools. And Kona is a public school which means they don’t always have the resources (or they struggle to obtain resources), yet they compete at a high level consistently. One major reason is Coach Awa. For some reason her success is highly underrated. Theres not much information about her to find.
Bobbie Awa @ Konawaena may be the most underrated High School Girls basketball coach in the history of Hawaii Girls Basketball. Give this lady the credit she deserves as she has had this program playing at an elite level since 2004. This public school has had one of this nation’s most quietly successful programs for nearly 2 decades…that’s sayin’ something
I don’t know anyone who underrates Coach Awa, her staff, players and program. Not anymore. Nine state titles will do that. I’ve been covering her since the beginning and even before that – when the Kona Stingrays started playing in 1992. If you mean the mainland media should cover Konawaena more, I get what you’re saying. But locally, she is absolutely not “underrated” … and if you expect her to seek out media attention, then you don’t know her well.