Hawaii Baptist Academy honors coach with state title

Sometimes, experience prevails over size.

The Hawaii Baptist Eagles used every bit of that experience on Saturday night, outlasting the young, towering Seabury Hall Spartans 43-39 to capture the Division II title of the Snapple/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The top-seeded Eagles hoisted the championship koa trophy and chanted “For Keith!” over and over. Their head coach, Keith Sugiura, did not attend the game. Athletic director Deren Oshiro revealed only that the longtime coach was hospitalized.

Alexis Dang led Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion Hawaii Baptist (23-6 overall) with 12 points and three steals. Forward Hayley Taka tallied 10 points and eight rebounds. Point guard Kyley Nakagawa, a senior who played on the first HBA state championship team in 2016, added nine points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Sasha Phillip hit a key corner 3 and a layup to begin the second half as HBA built on a narrow lead.

“A lot of it was because our whole team is tight. We have a strong bond. Some of us have been playing together in club for seven or eight years,” Phillip said.

This is HBA’s second state title.

“We didn’t really know anything about them. No. 33 was really good,” Nakagawa said of Seabury Hall’s talented freshman, Pio Tu‘ivai, who had 11 points, six boards and three blocks.

The previously unbeaten Spartans, champions of the Maui Interscholastic League, were much younger, but had a distinct size advantage. HBA hustled relentlessly for 15 offensive rebounds, which neutralized a cold-shooting night (17-for-54, 32 percent) from the field. HBA also scrapped for every loose ball on the hardwood, forcing the Spartans into 19 turnovers.

Brittlay Carillo added 10 points before fouling out, and 6-foot-2 junior Anau Tu‘ivai added eight points and nine rebounds for Seabury Hall (14-1).

“HBA is very disciplined. Their offense is spot on. They hardly turned it over in halfcourt,” Seabury Hall coach Keone Labuanan said. “We’re going to come back strong next year. We only have one senior. This is a positive group. They’re fighters. We’ll be fine.”

The first half was a seesaw affair with multiple lead changes. Nakagawa’s runner in the middle of the lane over the 6-foot-2 Tu‘ivai gave HBA a 21-20 lead with less than 20 seconds before intermission.

The Eagles opened the lead to 27-20 in the third stanza after Phillips splashed a corner 3, then scored inside on a pass from Nakagawa.

The Spartans stayed in range, but center Anau Tu‘ivai committed her fourth foul with 1:25 to go in the third and took a seat on the bench. Dang’s hanging, 8-foot runner in traffic tumbled over the rim at the buzzer, and the Eagles led 35-32 entering the fourth quarter.

The Eagles nearly gave the game away in the final 2:30 as Dang missed two shots. After Carillo scored on a drive, the Spartans trailed 41-37. They got within 41-39 on a Carillo follow shot with 55 seconds left.

HBA iced the game with a free throw by Nakagawa, and after Dang stole an inbounds pass near the corner, she hit one of two foul shots for a 43-39 lead with 10.2 seconds left.

Seabury Hall had not reached the semifinal round since 2005. This was the Spartans’ first appearance in the title game.