Hanalani's Jacie Nava and the Royals host Mid-Pacific's Caylina Lindbo and the Owls Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. ScoringLive photo illustration

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First place in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's Division II girls basketball standings will be at stake when No. 10 Mid-Pacific visits Hanalani this weekend.

The Owls and Royals bring identical 3-0 league records into Saturday's 11:30 a.m. game at Hanalani gym. The teams, along with idle-Sacred Hearts, are locked in a three-way tie atop the seven-team ILH D2 race.

Mid-Pacific is in its first season back in D2 since the 2016-17 season, when it went 17-3 overall, including an 11-0 ILH record. That year culminated with the school's only state championship. However, the Owls spent the last two years in D1, where they struggled to just win three league wins in 22 games.

First-year coach Reid Sagawa has been pleased with what he's seen from his team so far this season.

"We're really proud of the girls. We talked about how we're just entering our seventh week together as coaches and players, just running a new system, trying to build team chemistry, trying to find a team identity and we think that the girls have done an outstanding job of working real hard, playing for each other and trying to pick up the different schemes and strategies that we're trying to implement with them," Sagawa said.

The Owls have enjoyed lopsided victories in each of their first three ILH contests, with a different leading scorer each night.

Junior guard Madi Sagawa (14.0 ppg in league games), sophomore post Lauren Hayashi (10.0 ppg) and senior wing Caylina Lindbo (7.3 ppg) are the team's top scorers.

"Mid-Pac has great experience being a D1 team for a number of years and playing at a high level, so we're going to try to match that to the best of our abilities and put our best effort forward Saturday," Hanalani coach Charles Hiers said.

Like the Owls, the Royals have also spread out the scoring. Through their first two ILH games, four players are averaging double figures in scoring: Maria Ralar (13.0 ppg), Lishae Scanlan (13.0 ppg), Tatem Foster (10.5 ppg) and Faith Mersburg (10.0 ppg).

"What's sort of nice is we have a balance and every night it's a different gal, some nights its two or three, but we just kind of take what they give us — some teams have played us zone, some have played us man — so we're just trying to find the best match-ups," Hiers said.

"Another thing I admire is their unselfishness and willingness to share the ball. It might be a good shot, but they will look for a better shot, so we've been trying to work on making that extra pass, if need be, but also making sure the right people have the ball in their hands," Hiers added. "It might be the right people on the bus, but also having the right people in the right seats in doing the things that they're gifted in doing. We have some people who can put the ball in the bucket and we're just trying to balance that out as well."

Hanalani's closest margin of victory has been a 12-point win over Hawaii Baptist on Dec. 14. It is coming off of a 60-29 win at Le Jardin Wednesday night.

"As far as the identity of this team, I think it's still coming together. We're young, we have good ability, but one of my goals in the last month has been to just sort of help their IQ and how we're executing out there and why we're doing what we're doing, but they're working, they're hustling, putting in good effort, now it's just about putting those things together," Hiers said.

While the Royals may be a youthful squad, they have experience on their side having reached the semifinal round of last February's D2 state tournament.

"We started three freshmen most of the season last year and so there was a learning curve there and things to work through, but they're hungry to keep growing and that's probably one of the things I admire about them most is their hunger to grow and improve and work on the things that need to be worked on. So last year's experience has shown them what they can do and what more they can do by improving each time out and that's kind of been our focus: not get too high, not get too low, just stay the course and take these games one at a time," Hiers said.

Sagawa and the Owls are also keeping their focus on the task at hand, but he knows Hanalani will provide a tough test.

"They're definitely a good team. They went deep into the state tournament last year. They're a relatively young team, but very seasoned with lots of experience," Sagawa said.

"They have a bunch of very good guards who are aggressive, they can handle the ball, they can attack, they can finish, they can get to the foul line and then when you combine that with (Scanlan) — who is definitely a game-changer in the post — although she's only a sophomore, she's definitely someone who can play at the next level," Sagawa said. "It's definitely going to be a challenge, but one that we're looking forward."

Mid-Pacific is coming off of a well-timed bye, which was intertwined with finals week in school. Sagawa said the players have also benefitted from scrimmaging against several alumni in the days leading up to the Hanalani game.

"Just playing against older girls who are at a higher level I think will help prepare our girls for this coming week," Sagawa said.

Neither team will play next week, but both continue league play on Jan. 3. The Owls will host Hawaii Baptist that afternoon, while the Royals will visit Sacred Hearts later that night.

"We know that if we can pull out a win on Saturday that's going to help us," Hiers said. "Our goal is to try to win every game, but we're been working really hard on a one-game-mentality and just being as prepared as we can be. I think both teams will be ready; Reid will have his team ready and we're looking to have ours ready by Saturday, so it should be a good match-up, I hope."