Girls basketball

Extra, extra! The Star-Advertiser All-State Girls Basketball selections, released on Mar. 5, stirred plenty of insight from the panel of coaches and media. Here’s a look at voters’ feedback. Honolulu Star-Advertiser Girls Basketball All-State Fab 15 2022-23 Player of the Year: Mele Sake, ‘Iolani Coach of the Year: Dean Young, ‘Iolani Fab 15 1. Mele Sake, ‘Iolani, C, 6-1, Jr. A double-double producer, but numbers alone do not reflect Sake’s full value. She averaged 8.5 points per game for the […]

Was it the upset of the. season? Perhaps. No. 8 Kamehameha’s 44-39 victory over No. 2 Maryknoll on Wednesday night sealed a state-tournament berth for the Warriors. Doing it on the Spartans’ court, even more stunning. But a surprise? Coach Pua Straight and staff have been diligently working on their young roster since day one. All the offseason workouts accelerated their growth, but it wasn’t easy to find tangible results. Preseason wins over Konawaena and Waiakea were tempered by losses […]

Theresa Anakalea is on a rampage. The Damien guard opened the Pa‘ani Tournament at Punahou with a 27-point game in the Monarchs’ 80-24 win over Hilo on Wednesday. On Thursday, the senior pumped in 32 points in Damien’s 51-29 win over Leilehua. Damien is now 4-0 in nonconference play. Anakalea scored 26 points in a season-opening 64-42 win over Kauai, then had 16 in a 50-48 squeaker over Kapaa. She isn’t a one-woman team. Tiare Arquero and Kenna Wengler are […]

It has been three long years since high school basketball has been this busy. Seventh-ranked Kamehameha opened its I Mua Invitational on Thursday with a 57-53 win over No. 9 Waiakea at the I Mua Invitational girls basketball tournament. Coach Pua Straight has a balanced lineup that includes two freshmen, Nihoa Dunn (12 points) and Rylee Paranada (12 points) making key contributions. Waiakea rallied in the second half with three consecutive 3-pointers on the fast break, but couldn’t get over […]

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 […]