It’s a pilot program with ambitious, reachable goals.

Some say it’s common sense. Others say it’s totally out of space. The one certainty: girls basketball at the state-championship level has gone regional in Hawaii.

It started with football, which began playing early-round state-tourney games off-island roughly a decade ago. That success led to what we have this winter in girls Division I basketball: A system with opening-round games on Maui, the Big Island and Oahu.

Here are the basic facts for this year’s Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships:

» The first two rounds are on Friday, Feb. 7 and Saturday, Feb. 8. The semifinals will be played at McKinley Student Council Gymnasium on Friday, Feb. 14. The championship game and third-place game will be at Blaisdell Arena on Saturday, Feb. 15.

» The 12-team format is basically the same. Only the sites have changed.

» First-round matchups on Oahu will be played at McKinley and Moanalua. Neighbor island sites are the Lahaina Civic Center and Kealakehe High School.

» League champions from the BIIF, ILH, MIL and OIA are the "seeded" teams. (Seeding will be administered by the Hawaii High School Athletic Association.) Their respective leagues are the hosts. Quarterfinals sites have been determined: the aforementioned Lahaina Civic and Kealakehe High sites, and Blaisdell Arena for the ILH and OIA.

By creating the regional sites, HHSAA executive director Chris Chun hopes to create a more true state championship feel. It doesn’t hurt that the neighbor islands have provided some of the best teams and talent in recent years. Five of the past seven D-I state champions have come from the BIIF (Konawaena, four times) or MIL (Lahainaluna).

Attendance for Lahainaluna and Konawaena home games have been outstanding over the years.

"That’s why I wanted to do this in girls basketball. The neighbor islands are so strong," Chun said.

Because this is a new twist, there are questions from fans and players’ families, such as:

» Why should an ILH team and OIA team pay to travel to play each other in a first-round game?

The HHSAA has made sure that any first-round matchup between ILH and OIA teams will be played on Oahu, even if the contest is part of a quarterfinal regional bracket based on Maui or the Big Island. The game will be held at McKinley or Moanalua on that Friday night (Feb. 7). The winner would then fly out the next day for the quarterfinal game.

» How will the teams get plane tickets at a lower price if they don’t know for sure that they’re traveling?

The HHSAA has worked together with Panda Travel to secure air travel for Oahu teams that may play on the neighbor islands, Chun said.

» If Lahainaluna and Konawaena end up hosting quarterfinal games, why can’t the ILH and OIA champions do the same instead of playing their quarterfinals at the Blaisdell?

"We all have big gyms. Blaisdell is nice, but it’s foreign to us, too. It would be nice if the ILH champion hosted," said Mike Taylor, a longtime Punahou coach who is now an assistant on the Buffanblu staff.

But the intent is to have a neutral site in the quarterfinals that is hosted by the leagues, not individual teams.

"It’s not really a home game. It’s not supposed to be a home-court advantage," Chun said, noting that the MIL picked Lahaina Civic and the BIIF selected Kealakehe, which is a 15-mile drive from Konawaena, and the Afook-Chinen Hilo Civic Auditorium.

"The leagues pick the site in advance. They can’t favor one school," Chun added. "We’ve always done that."

» Who will pay for the travel costs?

As in the past, traveling teams are responsible for their own fares.

» Why bother playing on the neighbor islands when it might not make money?

That’s probably a misperception of some Oahu-based fans. Take last year’s D-I tournament, which had games at McKinley and Radford in the first two rounds (plus consolation games at Kalani and Kaimuki), and then moved to Blaisdell for the semifinals and finals.

Typically, games at neutral sites like McKinley don’t draw well, especially on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Not counting players and coaches, there might be 300 fans total for two opening-round games. The quarterfinal on a Wednesday in Honolulu may draw 500.

Compare that to a Friday night first-round game on Maui or the Big Island, plus the hometown-hosted quarterfinal. The first-round game between two off-island teams would project to a low number in some cases, but it’s the quarterfinals comparison that could be riveting from a revenue standpoint.

A first state-tourney game (quarterfinal) at Lahaina Civic might be a sellout. Same with a Konawaena game at spacious Kealakehe gym. Or a Hilo game at the Hilo Civic. Even a less-than-capacity crowd at those venues would equal big dollars for the HHSAA.

With adult admission at $7 and $5 for children and seniors, an audience of 1,500 — a lowball number for sure — on the Big Island or Maui would generate roughly $9,000 per site, or a total of $18,000.

Draw that up against the quarterfinal attendance on Oahu in recent years. With two sites drawing maybe 1,000 fans total, that’s revenue in the area of $6,000.

Even with the cost of renting Blaisdell for the quarterfinal round, the numbers are on Chun’s side.

"That’s going to cost us, but I think the neighbor-island sites will help make up for that. We can generate at least $3,000 more, maybe $5,000 more if it’s done right," Chun said.

» Are they really doing away with consolation games?

A byproduct of the new format is the elimination of consolation games.

For fans, so far, the feedback has been positive and inquisitive, HHSAA official Natalie Iwamoto said. She has fielded many calls about the traveling aspect.

"The teams will get a taste of what it’s like to travel for a state tournament. If we have good feedback from the athletic directors and the communities, we might continue this with other sports," she said. "This is more of what a state championship feels like."

Taylor, who guided Punahou to four state titles from 2003 to ’08, likes the new concept.

"It gives the outer-island teams and their fans a chance to experience something that the Oahu people have been spoiled with," he said. "That’s a good thing and exciting. Something different for the Oahu schools."