Mayor Mufi Hannemann's love for basketball will pay dividends for 12 fortunate high school girls this fall.

Hannemann, along with Hawai'i High School Athletic Association executive director Keith Amemiya, announced plans yesterday to send a team of 12 select players from Hawai'i to Indianapolis for the prestigious Adidas Fall Finish Tournament set for Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. The tournament is an NCAA-sanctioned event that features 80 teams, with 300 to 400 college coaches from across the country expected to attend.

The 12 players will be selected after comparing lists submitted by daily newspaper sports writers from every island who cover high school girls basketball. The Advertiser submitted its list after first consulting with several longtime girls basketball coaches, some of whom also operate popular clinics and travel teams.

The select team will be coached by Dana Takahara-Dias, who said she hopes to finalize the roster by next week. Takahara-Dias is a former University of Hawai'i player and Moanalua High School coach.

Expenses for the trip will mostly be covered by the HHSAA Foundation, which receives proceeds from Hannemann's annual Jamboree each May featuring the top girls players in the state.

"Every year, a significant amount of players from the Jamboree go on to play in college," said Hannemann, who played college basketball at Harvard. "This is another showcase opportunity for our talented athletes who will compete against some of the nation's best and hopefully end up with multiple choices when it comes to college basketball."

Amemiya said he hopes to be able to subsidize "75 to 80 percent" of each player's travel expenses.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.