Punahou's Taylor, Kane honored by ILH

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Punahou senior Rachel Kane, who has signed to play for Gonzaga, averaged 11.9 ppg and showed solid ball-handling and all-around skills. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

This season, however, the Buffanblu again took early control and never let go, winning the league championship with a 14-0 record. That control carried over into postseason honors, where Punahou swept the top spots in a vote of league coaches.

Senior guard Rachel Kane was named Player of the Year, and Mike Taylor was named Coach of the Year.

Kane, a 5-foot-7 point/wing, averaged 11.9 points per game, but she probably is recognized more for her superb ball-handling and all-around skills. In the game that decided the ILH title, Kane scored 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds and made three steals to help the Buffanblu edge Kamehameha, 48-46.

She has signed to play for Gonzaga next season.

Kane is joined on the ILH's all-star first team by teammate Becky Hogue, Kamehameha's Megan Ching, Iolani's Ginger Gravelle, Mid-Pacific's Shannon Nishi and University High's Diane Okubo.

Hogue, a 6-1 senior center, averaged 12.7 ppg and was Punahou's main inside scorer and rebounder. She has signed to play for Loyola Marymount next year.

Ching, a 5-7 senior guard who was last season's Player of the Year, averaged 11.4 ppg and helped the Warriors to a 12-2 record. She plans to walk on at Cal State Northridge next season.

Gravelle, a 5-10 junior wing, finished as the ILH scoring champion with 13.7 ppg. She finished second in the league in 3-pointers with 15.

Nishi, a 5-2 senior guard, was third among 3-point shooters with 12. Okubo, a 5-7 senior guard, finished third in the league in scoring with 13.3 ppg. She has signed to play for NCAA Division II member Nova Southeastern (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) next season.

Ching, Kane, Hogue and Okubo are repeat first-team selections.

Taylor, in his second season at the helm, guided the Buffanblu to a 45-37 road victory over previously unbeaten Kamehameha in the first round, then the 48-46 home win over the Warriors to clinch the title.

Correction: Punahou's Eryn Chun, Shanna-Lei Dacanay and Makena Hunt were inadvertently left off the honorable mention list in a previous version of this story.