Girls basketball

Officially, the first basket of the Konawaena-Mililani state quarterfinal game was recorded at “8:00.” It was actually 7:56, according to longtime hoops fan Frank Mauz. The former Advertiser sportswriter has been at girls basketball state tournaments as a reporter or spectator since its inception by the HHSAA in 1977. Konawaena’s flash-quick guard, Kaliana Salazar-Harrell, hauled in the opening tip and within seconds, the Wildcats were up 2-0. If it stays officially 8:00 of the first quarter as the time of […]

The Division I bracket of the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships followed the code. In D-II, all heck broke loose. Every seeded team went down. Top-seeded ILH champion Damien lost to rival Sacred Hearts, 62-53. Second-seeded Hawaii Prep fell to Hanalani, 51-50, on a basket by the Royals’ Rylee Matsuda with 4 seconds remaining. Third-seeded Kauai lost to Hawaii Baptist, 34-29. Fourth-seeded Kailua lost to MIL champion Seabury Hall, 49-36. That chaos sets up the semifinal round at […]

It’s a strange, fascinating world of basketball when the boys playoffs in the OIA and ILH converge with the start of the girls state tournament. If you’re old enough to remember when the girls hoops season flourished in the spring, playing entire days (plural) of the state tourney in the Stan Sheriff Center, you probably miss being able to see high-level boys and girls basketball from November to May. Basketball returned, and some say it should never have left last […]

‘Iolani remained atop the Star-Advertiser Girls Basketball Top 10 on Monday, collecting nine of 11 first-place votes from a panel of coaches and media. The Raiders (13-2 overall) open play in the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships this week as the top seed. No. 2 Konawaena (10-2), a nine-time state champion under coach Bobbie Awa, received two first-place votes. MIL mainstays Lahainaluna (11-3) and Maui (13-3) are entrenched at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Punahou (7-6) moved […]

A week ago, the Campbell Sabers were close enough to see the finish line. Prior to the OIA playoffs, Julien Parado was the leading scorer for a squad that was unbeaten in OIA West play. “It’s definitely a goal for all of us. We’re trying to bring something home for Campbell, like a banner. That’s the main goal for us, but now it’s like starting all over,” the junior guard said. Now, with the school’s first OIA girls basketball championship […]

The Heide & Cook/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships brackets are out with no surprises in the seedings. ‘Iolani, a season-long No. 1 team in the Star-Advertiser Top 10, is seeded first by the HHSAA committee. Konawaena is seeded second, Lahainaluna third and Campbell fourth. The opening-round “play-in” games on Monday include two sites on the neighbor islands while one site on Oahu is to be determined. Quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be at regional sites, Moanalua and McKinley, with the […]

The trend is your friend, especially if you play basketball on the West side. Campbell won its first OIA girls basketball championship on Wednesday night, ending a title drought and setting the bar for one of the state’s largest schools. Softball, baseball and football have earned success at the Ewa Beach campus over the years. Basketball has often been competitive, especially during the years of the late Nate “Bigz” Macadangdang. Under Macadangdang, the Sabers competed for an OIA title. They […]

‘Iolani collected 12 of 14 first-place votes to remain atop the Star-Advertiser Girls Basketball Top 10 on Monday. The Raiders won three games last week, all by double-digit margins. They have already sealed a berth in the upcoming state championships. ‘Iolani is 12-2 overall, unbeaten in ILH play. Konawaena garnered two first-place votes and remained at No. 2. Lahainaluna, which edged Maui 44-42 last week to secure a state-tournament berth, is No. 3. Maui and Hilo round out the first […]