If you ask Ally Wada about the basics of being a scholar-athlete, she’ll tell you it’s as simple — not easy — as making good stuff.
Coachable. Driven. Efficient. The traits that help in academics, athletics and … baking brownies?
“Zero to 10, it’s a 2,” she says of the difficulty of making her favorite snack. “You just follow the instructions on the box.”
She also has been about winning since she can remember.
“When I was little, I used to love playing all the Mario games on my DS. I loved to compete against my sisters and friends,” said Wada, who doesn’t deny that she was probably the best at it. “I’d like to think so, but there’s a lot of people who would disagree.”
The affable senior isn’t quite done at Hawaii Baptist Academy. Her résumé, which includes a 4.1 grade-point average, already includes five Interscholastic League of Honolulu titles and two state championships in two sports. Right now, the small school in Nuuanu is 18-5 against a schedule that began with some of the best teams in Division I girls basketball. HBA, the 2015 state champion, is 8-1 in ILH D-II play and eyeing the possibilities again.
Warrior will
Their leading scorer, Wada, is an Eagle by name, but underneath the surface, she is a warrior. With a smile.
“Being involved in multiple club and school sports is definitely exhausting, physically and mentally at times. My busy schedule also teaches me how to manage my time,” she said.
The senior already has a blueprint of the future. The three-time Star-Advertiser All-State Fab 15 volleyball selection has a full-ride scholarship to the University of San Francisco. Visions of globe-trotting as a foodie athlete. A potential career as a physical therapist in sports medicine. She’s living the dream built on the foundation set by her great-grandfather Albert.
“He passed away around the same time I was born. I never met him, but I’ve learned through my grandparents how hard-working he was and how he never failed to provide for all five of his children,” she said.
On the volleyball court, the 5-foot-9 Wada loves setting others up for success. In basketball, she is a long-range sharpshooter with tremendous slashing ability to the basket. She had 18 points, including four NBA-range treys, in a close loss to No. 2 Kamehameha and 25 in an overtime loss to No. 6 St. Francis. In two games against No. 9 Sacred Hearts, she scored 28 and 24 points. Wada is shooting 81 percent at the foul line.
Yet, against ILH D-II teams, aside from the explosion against St. Francis, she scores 10.4 points per game. The fascinating dilemma is this: Is Ally Wada a great teammate who delivers joy and happiness, or is she a mostly dormant volcano whose scoring may elevate the Eagles to ILH and state titles? Maybe it’s both, at least on the hoops hardwood. Especially as she continues to train for volleyball on weekends with her club team. There are no days off for Wada.
“I think Ally really wanted that challenge of becoming a Division I (college) athlete,” Eagles girls basketball coach Keith Sugiura said. “That’s what drives her.”
Multi-sport titles
The hardware collected during Wada’s era is a substantial reason HBA has run out of space in its trophy case.
>> Volleyball — three ILH titles, one state championship.
>> Basketball — two ILH crowns, one state trophy. So far.
From the start of her prep career, Wada gave HBA a rare combination of skills and size at her position.
“Her freshman year, we’re playing University High at Klum (Gym). It was a tight match. I don’t know who was attacking the ball, but Ally solo-roofed the girl to end the match, a straight-down block,” HBA girls volleyball coach Myles Shioji said. “The competitiveness. She’s hyper-competitive in every drill we do.”
Wada is also a reluctant soloist.
“Knowing we weren’t as dynamic with our hitters as the past two years, we asked her to dump more,” Shioji said. “She was initially uncomfortable with not getting her hitters involved. She’s an ultimate competitor, but she wants to win as a team.”
HBA’s top scorers, Kyley Nakagawa, Alexis Dang, Katelyn Nakagawa and Caitlin Ching, are mostly underclassmen. Wada’s overall scoring average in league play: 12 points per game.
Team player
Last year, Wada had 59 points, 37 rebounds and 11 steals in three state-tourney games, but the Eagles fell in the quarterfinals against Moanalua. Maybe Wada is subconsciously following the formula that won HBA a state basketball title two years ago, when three to four Eagles usually scored in double figures. When Wada was more of a role player. This year, she has picked her spots.
“With Ally there’s times we want her to assert herself and be the scorer, but sometimes she’ll pass it up to be that team player,” Sugiura said. “She played with her older sister (Rylie, now playing for Cal Lutheran) and was always the one who would rebound and find her teammates. I don’t think she was ever put in the position to have to score for us. Since Stephanie (Dang) graduated, we want her to be that scorer.”
Shioji sees this in the sports culture on campus.
“She’s just a good kid like all the kids at HBA. She’ll do whatever you ask,” he said. “You just have to be very specific.”
PROFILE
ALLY WADA
>> Hawaii Baptist basketball, volleyball
>> Senior
FAVORITES
>> Team: Los Angeles Lakers. “When I was younger, me and my dad and my sister (Rylie) used to watch them because they’re his favorite team. We always had Laker jerseys.”
>> Motto/scripture: “To whom much has been given, much will be expected.” — Luke 12:48
>> Hobby outside of sports: Baking, sleeping. “I make brownies and cupcakes. You just follow directions on the box. My mom is a good baker.”
>> Movie: “High School Musical.” “I think the music in it is really good. Me and my sisters used to watch it because we’d sing along with it.”
>> Teacher: “Mr. (Greg) Hayashi, because he was such a great athlete himself and so he’s very knowledgeable and wise when it comes to sports. In the classroom, he’s always joking around with us, which makes class really fun. I also had him as a track coach, so it was fun learning from him in a sport I knew nothing about.”
>> GPA: 4.1. “If I didn’t have sports I feel like I’d have a lot more free time on my hands and I wouldn’t be as efficient.”
>> Top foodie sports traveling memories: “In San Diego, this past summer for basketball, there’s a place super close to the border. The fish burrito was super good. Me and my mom like to go this place called Class 302. It’s all over California. You make your own boba like Menchies.”
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See Ally Wada’s full Q&A on hawaiiprepworld.com
