Girls basketball

Latest news

Latest news

2023 All-State girls basketball: Coaches’ insights

By Paul Honda on March 12, 2023

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 […]

Farias Senior Classic, Mufi Hannemann Jamboree this weekend

By Paul Honda on February 17, 2023

High school post-season exhibition basketball games are loaded up for this President’s Day weekend. On Saturday, the Damien Farias Senior Basketball Classic will tip off at 7 p.m. Seniors from across the state fill out the Team Red and Team Blue rosters. Admission is $5. Coached by Dan Hale (Saint Louis) and Brandon Dumlao (Moanalua), Team Red is loaded with scoring guards Mizah Carreira and Malik Johnson of Campbell, Zelston Militante (Leilehua), Skylar Miyasato (Moanalua) and Justin Yap (Maryknoll), and […]

Kamehameha completes girls basketball D-I state-tourney field

By Paul Honda on January 26, 2023

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 […]


All that drama: the ILH’s basketball tiebreaker maze

By Paul Honda on January 25, 2023

The tiebreakers and playoff formats of the ILH and OIA are so different. They do serve their purposes, of course. In the OIA, where there is no automatic state berth for regular-season supremacy, it all comes down the the playoffs. For years now, the top two teams in the OIA West and East have earned first-round byes, homecourt advantage and the the edge in fresh legs, all because opening-round teams have only 24 hours to rest before the quarterfinal round. […]

Theresa Anakalea pours in 32, Damien routs Leilehua

By Paul Honda on December 2, 2022

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 […]

I Mua thriller: No. 7 Kamehameha outlasts No. 9 Waiakea

By Paul Honda on December 2, 2022

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 […]

All-State Girls Hoops: Coaches chime in on Fab 15, All-Defensive selections

By Paul Honda on April 1, 2022

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 […]

Hoopbook: Pupule’s Top 10 post-season questions

By Paul Honda on March 6, 2022

The 2022 postseason in answered some vital questions about many things Hawaii high school roundball. There are also many questions left unanswered, like why aren’t there UNDISPUTED boys champions in the BIIF and MIL? There is logic, of course, in the eyes of fans at Division I programs like Baldwin and Hilo, which won their respective leagues. If D-II programs want it, they can always request to move up given the proper procedures and timing. But the pupule fan in […]