Early on in her basketball journey, fifth grade to be exact, Keala Quinlan had to prove herself in a new environment.

Fast-forward to her senior year of high school at Roosevelt, National Letter of Intent in hand, and she still feels the same way.

The game didn’t come naturally for the University of Portland signee. Far from it.

“I’ve been playing since fifth grade. I was really bad, I wasn’t good,” Quinlan said. “As I got older I played more games and got more experienced and traveled, it just got a little bit better.”

That progress has led her to become arguably the most versatile player in the state. At 6 feet, Quinlan is the “in” for the Rough Riders’ 4-out, 1-in offense. However, coach Hinano Higa uses her however she can.

“She’s a 6-foot guard. She’s our only big so we play her at a forward position, but she sharpened her skills over the summer as far as ball-handling,” Higa said. “She plays the point for us, the wing; any position that we need, she’s gonna fill that spot there.”

Higa knows what she has in Quinlan. After all, she’s been there since the beginning.

In the beginning

Quinlan came up through the 808 Basketball Club, where Higa was one of the coaches. Higa has been developing her ever since.

“When she first came into our club program, she was just learning basketball,” Higa said. “Dribbling, ball bouncing off her foot. Learning to just run the floor, learning the game of basketball. The first one to two years she played with us, it was just a full-on learning experience.”

When Quinlan and Higa first got acquainted, Higa described her as “one of the shorter girls.” A couple of growth spurts in her height and game were key to her progression.

Family support

So how did Quinlan stick it out? To her, the answer is simple.

“There’s a lot of people that helped me along the way from a young age. People didn’t give up on me. I guess they saw something that I couldn’t see,” Quinlan said. “It’s more of my family who supported me and my father, mom, uncles, aunties and coaches. … They all helped me grow into the person I am.”

Higa insistented on reverting the praise back to Quinlan’s family, who have been there every step of the way. Keala’s sister, Kaonohi, is also on Roosevelt’s varsity team.

“She has huge family support. (Her) mom and dad give her those opportunities to get better each time by taking her to clinics or camps,” Higa said. “Her confidence stems from her family and just having that backbone support and building upon that, her siblings as well.”

Quinlan’s journey has been a team effort on and off the hardwood. Although the Rough Riders will lean on her heavily this year, both Quinlan and Higa acknowledge that she can’t do it all by herself.

“She’s a very good leader. We’ve been playing basketball since we were little and we’ve come a long way,” said teammate and longtime friend Ashley-Alohi Kiko. “She’s definitely grown as a player humbly, and on the court she communicates with us well.”

Season goals

Quinlan heads into the season hoping to build on individual and team accolades over her career, which entails inclusions on multiple All-State teams and two consecutive OIA titles for Roosevelt.

When the time comes, Quinlan looks forward to the transition of closing one chapter and opening another. For now, she remains focused on her current goals. Most importantly, she wants to prove that it was worth it.

“I’m definitely playing with more confidence. I still want to win, so I’m gonna give my best to my team,” Quinlan said. “I’m still not the best, but I want to be. I want to get up there and show everybody even though I signed, I deserve that.”

NEWS & NOTES

Kaiser basketball coach suspended

Kaiser girls basketball coach Simon Bitanga has been suspended from his duties pending an investigation, according to sources close to the situation who did not want to be named.

Department of Education spokesperson Lindsay Chambers confirmed that the DOE is investigating alleged wrongdoing by Bitanga, but due to a privacy policy could not say why.

Kaiser assistant Noah Keolanui has been the Cougars’ acting head coach since Wednesday. Kaiser played at Waianae on Saturday afternoon, but forfeited games at the McKinley tourney on Saturday and Sunday because seven of 11 girls on the team boycotted the forfeited games in support of Bitanga, who did not return a Monday afternoon phone call seeking comment.

The High School Top 10

Voted on by coaches and media statewide. First-place votes in parentheses. Ten points for first-place votes, nine for second, etc.

Other votes: Leilehua 17, Kaiser 14, Hawaii Baptist 4, Sacred Hearts 3, KS-Hawaii 2, Kailua 2, Radford 1, Farrington 1.

Other votes: Mid-Pacific 25, Saint Louis 23, Campbell 21, Konawaena 16, Moanalua 14, Farrington 5, Baldwin 3, Kohala 3, Radford 1, St. Francis 1