Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
Defending champion Konawaena is once again the top seed in the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Girls Basketball Division I State Championships, which tip off on Tuesday.
The Wildcats (23-3, 11-0 Big Island Interscholastic Federation) have a first-round bye before playing the Kaiser-Maui winner on Wednesday at McKinley Student Council Gym.
Second-seeded ‘Iolani will play the Mililani-Kaimuki winner, and third-seeded Lahainaluna will play the winner of the Roosevelt-Waiakea matchup. The fourth seed, Pearl City, will meet the Kahuku-Kamehameha victor.
Konawaena has entered the past four state tournaments as the top seed, winning two titles. With Lia Galdeira and Dawnyelle Awa leading the way, they have gone 107-8 against all competition during that span. Konawaena has also gone 49-0 against BIIF foes.
Radford, champion of the Oahu Interscholastic Association White Conference, is the top seed in the D-II state tourney. The defending champion Rams will meet the Hawaii Prep-University winner on Wednesday at Radford.
Kamehameha-Hawaii drew the No. 2 seed and will take on the Hawaii Baptist-Kalani winner on Wednesday at Kalani’s gym. Maryknoll, which went unbeaten through the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, is the No. 3 seed.
Kauai, led by super-quick guard Kristle Henry, is the fourth seed.
The homecourt advantage enjoyed by Radford and Kalani didn’t go unnoticed. Though neutral sites are preferred by the HHSAA, the locations were decided well before the tourney, executive director Christopher Chun said.
"It’s difficult to find sites willing to host," Chun said. "If I switch sites at the last minute, I don’t want them upset."
One example was Moanalua, which agreed to host the first two rounds of the D-I tourney. However, as a result, the boys team is unable to host an Oahu Interscholastic Association playoff game.
"I’m lucky these schools are willing to host. I’m grateful for that," Chun said.
The probability of larger crowds and more revenue for the D-II tourney was not a factor in the bracketing, he added.
"I don’t really care about that. It’s so hard finding four sites," Chun said.
Chun said no serious consideration was given to switching all the teams in the Kalani bracket to the Radford bracket and vice versa.
The pairings were determined on Saturday by basketball coordinators of the five leagues.
76