Shanna-Lei Dacanay
In 2002, a tiny freshman point guard named Shanna-Lei Dacanay burst onto the basketball scene for Punahou School. Little did we know back then what impact she would have on Hawai'i high school athletics.
Three years later, Punahou has three more Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls basketball championships, two more state girls basketball titles and the school's first ILH softball crown since 1974.
It has the 5-foot-3 Dacanay to thank for much of that.
Statistics do not do Dacanay much justice, although she twice was named an ILH first-team all-star in basketball and was ILH Player of the Year this past season. Her value was in leadership, in hitting the big shot when the team needed it and handling the ball in crucial situations down the stretch.
Basketball, softball Grade-point average: 3.85 College: Washington (St. Louis, Mo.)
In softball, Dacanay twice was an all-ILH second-team shortstop, but again she was known more for making the key defensive play or being a spark plug on offense than for gaudy statistics.
Punahou
In the classroom, Dacanay did put up big numbers, with a 3.85 cumulative grade-point average. She also has served as a volunteer coach for the Kalakaua Foundation Clinic and Punahou Basketball Camp and booth chair for the Punahou Carnival.
She plans to play basketball and study engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.
