Kamehameha's Curnan, Word of Life's Onosai best of ILH Division II

Advertiser Staff

A new format produced the same champion in Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II girls basketball this season, with Kamehameha repeating as the top team.

The Warriors also came away with two of the league's top three postseason honors in voting by league coaches, as center Sarah Curnan was named Co-Player of the Year and Christie Apisa was named Coach of the Year.

Word of Life freshman Careena Onosai was named Co-Player of the Year along with Curnan.

Curnan, a 5-foot-10 senior, led Kamehameha to a 12-1 record and its second straight title.

Onosai, a 5-11 post, helped Word of Life to a 10-3 record in its first season of varsity competition.

The 10 teams in ILH Division II played a single round-robin (nine games), and then were split into two divisions based on record. The "top five" schools then played one another for the remaining four games, as did the "bottom five."

Word of Life finished the first round robin with a 6-3 record and then won all four of its "Bottom Five" games.

Onosai, daughter of former Pac-Five and University of Hawai'i football standout Joe Onosai, was a scoring machine for the Firebrands. She scored 37 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked six shots against Hawai'i Baptist, and also had 28 points against Lutheran, 26 against Hanalani (twice), 24 against Kamehameha and Punahou and 21 against Iolani.

She did this while also practicing track and field every afternoon, and she won the ILH championship in the shot put and discus.

Curnan and Onosai are joined on the all-star first team by Kamehameha's Aubrey Kiemnec and Nia Naumu, HBA's Kara Morita, La Pietra's Chandra Shih and Holly Saito of St. Andrew's.

Curnan, Naumu and Morita — all seniors — are repeat selections. Kiemnec and Shih are juniors, and Saito is a sophomore. Apisa also was Coach of the Year last season.