Girls basketball

Basketball season at the prep level was so short, but so dynamic in 2021-22. On the girls’ side, there were roughly five to 10 fewer preseason games for most teams. The diminished opportunity to play teams from other leagues, other islands and states left many fans wanting more. In the end, the regular season, playoffs and state championships filled much of the void — until the Division I state final. ‘Iolani’s Jovi Wahinekapu Lefotu was unstoppable, a force of nature […]

‘Iolani made it a unanimous No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Girls Basketball Top 10 on Monday, collecting all 12 first-place ballots from coaches and media. The Raiders (17-2) completed the season with a state-final 28-17 win over Konawaena on Saturday at the Heide & Cook/HHSAA State Championships. OIA champion Campbell vaulted three spots to No. 4 after reaching the D-I semifinal round. The Division II winner, Hawaii Baptist, landed in the rankings for the first time at No. 9. The […]

There was a point early in the second quarter of the Division II state championship game with Sacred Hearts when the Hawaii Baptist ohana held their collective breath. With 5:42 left before halftime, Joey Lin went down and stayed down. The arena went dead silent. “The injuries to us happened all season long,” HBA coach Robin Yamaguchi said. “So our thought was Alyssa Young has to step up again.” The Eagles were ready. After weeks of ups, downs, injuries and […]

‘Iolani and Konawaena dominated the all-tournament selections at the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Girls Basketball Division I State Championships. Raider senior Jovi Lefotu was voted most outstanding player. Against Maui, the versatile floor leader had 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field, 15 rebounds, two assists and two steals. In a semifinal win over Campbell, Lefotu had 16 points (5-for-12 from the field), eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. In the championship game against Konawaena, Lefotu had […]

There was a point during the first half of the ‘Iolani-Campbell semifinal game when Dean Young was despondent. Head bowed, hands on his forehead while sitting on the bench. Processing. “I was thinking, can we stop putting them on the free-throw line? Over and over and over again. It was frustrating,” Young said after the Raiders’ 54-39 win. “It just kills the flow of the game to blow the whistle so many times.” It was a game-long grind against a […]

The game was over and the Lady Lunas of Lahainaluna were mingling with each other and family members who made the flight over to Oahu. Lahainaluna advanced to the semifinal round of the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships with a 49-36 win over Punahou. But some time during the post-game decompression stage, Chaland Pahukoa had a moment. The talented junior guard had just scored 12 points, including two huge 3-pointers in the third quarter to help the Lunas […]