Girls basketball

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 […]

‘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 […]