Campbell dominates Kahuku in OIA girls basketball quarterfinals

The Campbell girls basketball team put on a clinic Thursday against Kahuku on how a team’s defense can lead to offense.

Julien Parado scored all 17 of her points in the first half and the host Sabers forced 17 turnovers before halftime in a 54-27 victory over the Red Raiders in the quarterfinals of the OIA Division I girls basketball tournament.

“Defense is something that cannot be off,” said Campbell coach Jazmine Corpuz. “We can have off offensive nights, but defense we cannot. I was proud of the girls. They came in focused and did what we had to do.”

The Sabers (10-0) scored the game’s first 14 points, with most of the baskets coming off steals and transition layups. Parado had eight points during the surge.

“From the beginning we just pushed the tempo and we stayed in the man-to-man and it really picked us up on offense,” said Parado, a junior. “That’s when we got some steals.”

Campbell, the West’s top seed, will play at Radford in the semifinals Monday. The No. 10 Sabers are guaranteed a berth in the state tournament, which starts Feb. 14.

The Sabers beat the Rams 39-37 on Jan. 13.

“We’ve seen them before. It was a tough one, a good game,” Corpuz said. “I’m sure they’ve made adjustments — so have we — so we’ll see what happens.”

Against Kahuku, Campbell hit eight of its first nine field-goal attempts and took a 21-4 lead after the first quarter.

The Red Raiders’ first points came on Talailelagi Wily-Ava’s field goal with 2:48 remaining in the first quarter.

“They’re awesome. Even as a coach of the other side, I just enjoy watching these kids play really hard-knock basketball,” said Kahuku coach Latoya Wily. “They were smothering, and moving on the flight of the ball. They definitely did a great job.”

The Red Raiders (8-4) switched from a man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone late in the first quarter, but it did little to stop the Sabers.

Campbell’s largest lead of the half was 38-10 on a putback by Aliyah Bantolina with 30 seconds left before halftime.

“We have the personnel to do it, but we have to be smart about it,” Corpuz said of playing pressure defense. “That’s the part we’re working on: control ourselves and control the game.”

The tempo slowed in the second half as the Red Raiders, the East’s No. 4 seed, stayed in the zone and the Sabers went to a 1-2-2 zone.

Campbell made seven field goals in the second half, while Kahuku had four.

The Sabers have allowed an average of 19.7 points per game, and won eight of their 10 games by at least 21 points.

Vaelua Fatu added 12 points and Caitlyn Hosaka had nine for Campbell.

Leila Hannemann scored 13 for Kahuku.

Kahuku will play Roosevelt in Monday’s consolation round, in which four teams will compete for the league’s final two spots in the state tournament.

“I just want to see discipline in all areas,” said Wily, who added her program is rebuilding. “I love that we’re here in the playoffs against these great teams, so now they can know what it’s like to be at this caliber of play.”