PEARL CITY, Hawaii — Every time the Campbell girls basketball team was on the cusp of seeing its status as defending Oahu Interscholastic Association champion come to an end, the Sabers summoned the means to extend their reign.
Moanalua pushed Campbell to the brink more than once at Pearl City’s gym, but the Sabers survived in double overtime, 57-55, on Monday night and will face Kahuku for a possible third straight championship on Wednesday night.
It is a matchup of unbeaten East and West leaders; on Monday, Kahuku overwhelmed Radford 66-37 in the first semifinal.
The Division I championship at Pearl City will follow the D-II title game between Farrington and McKinley at 5:30 p.m.
Campbell (12-0), with its dangerous lineup of interchangeable guards and wings, seemed to get a steal or key offensive rebound every time it was necessary for survival.
“You know what, hat’s off to the girls. We go over this at practice, we have all season long. We condition for this, to play the long game,” Sabers coach Jazmine Corpuz said. “And all season it’s really been, how can we play our game, how can we stay within our own means and keep our composure under pressure. I’m just super proud of them. We may be tired a little bit physically, but if anything, I hope this boosts us mentally, because it shows they got the grit; they got the composure and can handle the pressure in times of need.”
Campbell found a way to overcome the size of 6-foot Na Menehune star Shailoh Liilii. They doubled Liilii (16 points and 14 rebounds, four blocks, three steals) consistently.
When Liilii scored twice inside for a four-point lead in the first overtime, Jaynalyn Sotelo responded with a layup and Taysia Molina-Schulte hit two free throws to tie it up.
In double overtime, Sotelo hit a layup for a three-point lead with 51 seconds left. She then stole the ball in the halfcourt, dribbled ahead, missed a layup – but stole the ball again with 30 seconds to go, forcing Moanalua to foul.
“I was nervous doing the game, but I knew we were going to push through to the end because our team never gives up,” said Sotelo, who had 15 points and five steals.
Said Corpuz, “That’s Jiji. She’s a sophomore, but she plays like a senior. So we hope to continue to build on that. This is probably one of her best, composed and disciplined games she’s played and it’s perfect timing.”
Aliyah Bantolina (game-high 24 points) hit one of two at the line for a 56-52 lead.
Moanalua nearly pulled off a miracle comeback as Akaecia Mateo threw in a 3 off the glass to get within a point. After a taken foul, Bantolina hit one of two, Moanalua guard Rheanna Nobleza (20 points, four 3-pointers) heaved a running triple that hit off the top of the backboard and bounced straight down onto the rim – and bounced off.
It capped an emotional day for Moanalua coach Kirk Ronolo, whose mother-in-law’s funeral was that day in Seattle.
“This is a rough one for me,” Ronolo said after Campbell knocked his team out of the playoffs for the second straight year. “the girls came out here, they did what they had to do, they did everything I asked of them, and just came up short.”
He credited Campbell for its composure in key situations. “They put it together better than we did,” Ronolo said. “Hat’s off to them, they’re a great team, great program. Jaz has something good going on there.”
Corpuz acknowledged her undersized team will have its hands full with Kahuku and its formidable size.
Kahuku coach Artevia Wily was pleased after her team read passing lanes well for steals in its rout of Radford, the team that knocked it out in the quarterfinals last year.
“We have pretty good length and we’ve been trying to work hard on getting everybody on board,” Wily said. “Before we used to go four deep, but now we have more depth in our bench where we can afford to take people out. But for the most part, the girls have been doing pretty good with their reads. There’s still more we can work on but it’s a good win for them.”
Wily’s little sister, Posia Wily, led Kahuku with 15 points, four assists and four steals. Elisa Holakeituai added 15 points.
Posia Wily and her nieces Tuisila and Tailele Wily-Awa combined for 13 steals.
Kahuku scored the first nine points of the game and never let up.
“We knew that they were a shooting team, so we knew that we had to take away those lanes,” Posia Wily said. “Just settle a little bit below the read line, and once they pass it we had to read it and take the ball.”
Kahuku is in pursuit of its first OIA title since 2020, when Artevia Wily’s older sister Latoya coached the team.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.