The Iolani Raiders’ girls basketball dynasty now rivals any that came before it.

Iolani ran away with the 2023 Heide and Cook/HHSAA Division I championship over Konawaena on Friday night, 59-38 at the Stan Sheriff Center for the school’s fourth straight championship spanning five years.

What You Need To Know

  • Top-seeded Iolani defeated No. 2 Konawaena 59-38 for the Raiders' fourth straight HHSAA championship on Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center

  • Iolani, led by coach Dean Young, is the third school to attain a state title run of four in a row, joining Konawaena from 2015 to 2018 and Kamehameha from 1990 to 1993

  • Raiders forward Mele Sake was named tournament Most Outstanding Player after compiling eight points and 12 rebounds in the championship

  • The HHSAA Division II championship takes place 7 p.m. Saturday night in Hilo between Kapaa of the KIF and Hanalani of the ILH

That matches the longest run of consecutive titles in the sport in HHSAA annals – the last to do it being Konawaena from 2015 to 2018, immediately preceding the Raiders’ run. Kamehameha also won four straight from 1990 to 1993.

Iolani, led by coach Dean Young, has had staying power. The reigning ILH champs have two state championships on either side of the 2021 season that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A rematch of the 2022 final that was the lowest-scoring in state history, 28-17, this one did not lack for offensive firepower between the top two seeds in the 12-team field.

This year’s tournament Most Outstanding Player, forward Mele Sake, anchored the Raiders (15-3) in the title game with eight points and 12 rebounds, including five on the offensive end.

Guard Paige Oh led the way from the outside with three 3-point hits among her 17 points. Backcourt mate Haylie-Anne Ohta was a fine facilitator with seven points, six assists, three steals and no turnovers. Callie Pieper scored 11.

"I think we utilized our two bigs a lot more and everybody's a threat on offense," Oh told Spectrum OC16's Jimmy Bender. "It's really hard to stop and credit to our coaches for putting in the new offense and help adjusting it even though our two leading scorers left (after last season)."

Iolani overwhelmed coach Bobbie Awa’s Wildcats (15-1) with two dominant quarters: 20-7 in the second and 19-9 in the fourth.

The BIIF champions got a game-high 19 points from star Braelyn Kauhi on 7-for-14 shooting, but little else as they shot 29.4% from the field to Iolani’s 36.6%.

The Division II championship between Kapaa and Hanalani is at 7 p.m. at Afook Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo. Kapaa is going for the KIF's first girls basketball championship, while Hanalani last won the D-II title in 2020.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.