Chase for the Championship
Previewing the D2 girls bball state tourney


Michael Lasquero | ScoringLive
February 4, 2019, 8:26am

HBA's Kyley Nakagawa and Castle's Shayla Young play key roles for their respective teams. ScoringLive photo illustration

The field is set for the Snapple Division II Girls Basketball Championships.

The 12-team state tournament begins Wednesday, Feb. 6 with first round games being held at Damien's Bishop Scanlan Gymnasium and Kalani's Earl C. Holmer Gymnasium.

A different champion has been crowned in the past four years, with Kamehameha-Hawaii taking the title in 2018 after runner-up finishes in 2016 and 2017.

The Warriors will have their cut out for them if they hope to repeat however. After getting hit hard by graduation, KS-Hawaii finished third in the BIIF and drew a first round matchup against a Hanalani team that pushed top-seeded Hawaii Baptist for the ILH title.

"That's not a team that I want to face in the state tournament," HBA assistant Alan Matsui said of Hanalani after the Eagles defeated the Royals on Jan. 17.

In their championship win over Hanalani, the Eagles (22-6 overall, 12-1 ILH D2) jumped out to a 18-7 first quarter lead and a 34-17 lead at halftime. The Royals drew a lot of fouls against HBA, but a spirited effort by the Eagles' bench helped them maintain their lead in the first half. Zoe Lorica, a 5-foot-7 freshman, scored a season-high eight points in the first half alone and senior sixth-man Kyley Nakagawa was relentless in attacking the rim.


Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].