Despite a fourth-place finish at the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association’s Division II State Girls Basketball Championships, Kapa‘a High School’s girls shined, placing two on the coveted state all-tournament team: seniors Jondi Das and Mai’lika Napoleon. This their first
Despite a fourth-place finish at the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association’s Division II State Girls Basketball Championships, Kapa‘a High School’s girls shined, placing two on the coveted state all-tournament team: seniors Jondi Das and Mai’lika Napoleon. This their first time making the list.
“I was blown away,” Das said on making the team.
Throughout the tournament, Das remained a consistent force, finishing as the team’s top rebounder and among the top in scoring.
“It felt really awesome because (Kapa‘a) never had that before. It just shows that Kaua‘i has really good players,” Das said.
Napoleon, who on the same day the Lady Warriors upset No. 1 Kahuku in the Wednesday quarterfinal game was named the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation Player of the Year for the second year in a row, relished the recognition.
“It’s a really good feeling. I may only happen once in a lifetime and I’m glad to be a part of it.” Napoleon said.
Aside from the Division II state champs from Moloka‘i, who placed one on the all-tournament team (Danna-Lynn Hooper-Juario) and received the votes for the Most Outstanding Player (Kalei Adolpho), Kapa‘a was the only school to land two on the team.
“We’re a small island and you have O‘ahu which has so many schools, you would think they would have more (on the team),” Napoleon said. “It’s really awesome to have two girls from Kapa‘a (on the team). You can’t really describe it.”
Others on the all-tournament team were Keline Yoshimura (Hawai‘i Baptist Academy), Olivia Phommachanh (Kaimuki) and Kayla Lacaran-Costales (Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i).
Kapa‘a’s girls were still on O‘ahu on Saturday, with Das, Napoleon and Leihua McCabe playing in the 16th Annual Mufi Hannemann Basketball Jamboree. It’s a separate, single elimination tournament which showcases the top basketball players in the state.
All three girls were placed on separate teams with their coach Terri Maguire coaching a team.
The Lady Warriors made KIF history during the week, going the farthest any league team has gone in a state basketball tournament.
The Kapa‘a Warrior boys basketball team make their way to the state tournament this week. The rankings have not yet been released as the athletic directors and coaches will hold their tournament meeting on Sunday on O‘ahu.
The first round of the boys tournament will start on Wednesday. Kapa‘a will either play in the bracket at Kalani High School, much like the girls did, or at Farrington High School.
