Girls basketball

This week’s Pupule perspective on the Star-Advertiser Girls Basketball Top 10 is a day early. That’s why this is also the Eve of the Big Dance edition, with the HHSAA Division I State Championships set to tip off on Monday, 5 p.m. Why so early in the day? Probably because the many teams traveling inter-island can save a bundle by flying back home immediately after their games. Back in the day, the last flight in or out was around 7-8 […]

Here are the brackets in both Division I and Division II for the 2017 HHSAA/Snapple Girls Basketball State Championships. Konawaena is the two-time defending champion in Division I while Hawaii Baptist is the reigning Division II state champion. Division I Division II

There were two Cinderellas at the ball on Thursday night. The one wearing a flowing velvet maroon gown, Farrington, turned out to be the princess of OIA Division I basketball following a 45-37 win over Kaimuki at Waipahu’s gym. The Lady Governors proved that, yes, working smart and hard every day does make a difference. A big one, enough to beat the same Kaimuki team it had lost to 50-35 just six weeks earlier. “Nothing went our way that day,” […]

Just like that, ‘Iolani’s dream season ended before it could climax, and Kamehameha’s season is a dream come true. Kamehameha’s late-season surge is no surprise. For much of the early season, the Warriors played well enough to compete with front-runners Maryknoll and ‘Iolani. But something was missing. That something showed up under the brightest spotlight on Wednesday night with a state-tournament berth essentially on the line. Mikiala Maio, the senior who had never been to the state tourney other than […]

Is Kaimuki the Cinderella princess-to-be wearing a black dress with green and gold trim? Mililani, a powerhouse from the OIA West, will have plenty to say about that. So will the other semifinalists: Farrington and Leilehua. The Lady Trojans have been down this road before, and this year’s crew has endured just enough bumps in the road to be battle tested. They’ll face a hot Kaimuki team (10-1) that has transformed since its early season turbulence in the semifinals of […]

Senior Night at Kaimuki was about to begin, moments after a 58-42 win over Kalani sealed first place in the OIA East for the Bulldogs girls basketball team. There it was, framed, a certificate of recognition from the State Legislature. Kaimuki coach Mona Fa‘asoa, the honoree. There was more. Another certificate, this one in a big envelope, commemorating recognition from Gov. David Ige. Fa‘asoa, the demanding, intense guru, began to melt. Every 10 seconds, she wiped more tears from her […]

There’s no question that there is a surplus of quality teams in boys basketball, more than we see in girls hoops. And yet, that doesn’t diminish my interest in how many of the lower-enrollment, competitive programs are faring this season in girls basketball. KS-Maui continues to roll in the MIL against all teams not named Lahainaluna. Seabury Hall leads MIL D-II despite splitting with Molokai in a home-and-away two-day series — with the road team winning closely in each game. […]