HBA celebrated its annual Homecoming Friday, January 25th with a girls and boys varsity basketball doubleheader at the Dan Liu Gymnasium on the Stan Sagert Campus. The HBA Athletic Booster Club gave away free grilled hot dogs, ice cream, chips and drinks to everyone in attendance, including our visitors from the Priory and University. Balloons and commemorative color lineup flyers were also given away courtesy of D&J Specialties and the HBA Journalism Department respectively. A packed house of approximately 850 fans cheered on the teams and they were treated to two very entertaining games.
In the opener, the Lady Eagles (5-4) defeated the St. Andrew's Priory Pride (5-2) 51-38. Senior Ashley Salado scored a career-high 19 points, while fellow senior Carissa Onuma contributed 11 points. HBA used a full-court press and an aggressive man-to-man defense to force numerous turnovers and spark its offense. The Lady Eagles are no longer in contention to earn an automatic ILH berth into the HHSAA Division II State Tournament. However, they have an opportunity to play their way in by winning the ILH "Final Berth" Tourney in mid-February.
The second game featured two unbeaten boys teams in HBA (6-0, 14-2 overall) and University High (6-0). The Junior 'Bows jumped out to a quick 14-5 lead, but the Eagles rallied to trail at halftime 30-26. Senior Dayne Kato hit 3 three-pointers in the second quarter and finished with a team-high 13 points. Junior Kyle Barretta's three point play with 6:41 to play tied the game at 44-44, but the Eagles went cold from the field and did not score thereafter. UHS made a three-pointer to regain the lead 47-44 and made seven free throws the rest of the way to seal a 54-44 victory. The win puts UHS in position to claim the ILH Division II title if they can win their remaining games. Despite the loss, HBA remains in contention for both the ILH title (if UHS stumbles) and a berth in the boys HHSAA Division II State Tournament. The top three ILH teams qualify automatically, while the fourth place team will play the OIA for an additional berth.
Scheduling Note: The HBA boys varsity basketball game versus Hanalani at 6:00 PM on February 2nd has been moved to February 1st (Friday), at Hanalani at 6:30 PM.
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