>> In girls D-I quarterfinals, I wasn't surprised that Konawaena pushed top-seeded Punahou so hard. Kona's young squad probably would have beaten any other team last night, but had the misfortune of pairing up with the Buffanblu. Mana Hopkins is the lone senior on the team, and some key newcomers will be in the program next season. It's safe to say that Konawaena is better than Lahainaluna, Maui, Kalani and possibly Radford.

Radford continued to win, ousting MIL champ Lahainaluna. Ta Nitra Byrd is a story that compells and confuses. She sat most of the opening-round game with Roosevelt due to a flu, but seemed like she wanted to play after complaining early on about the illness. Throughout the season, she rarely started, but got major minutes. Last night, in the quarterfinals, she scored 18 against a solid Lahainaluna team. Whatever the situation is, Coach Tani Dutro has managed it with positive results.

Kalani's 23-point loss to Iolani wasn't shocking, but the margin was certainly surprising. I've been a bit less optimistic about Kalani than most voters in our Star-Bulletin Top 10 because I've been waiting for someone on that squad to take charge. Unfortunately, that lack of on-court leadership manifested last night. It's one thing to have working parts of a machine that are harmonious and all. But in crunch time against a potent opponent, a talent like Iwalani Rodrigues needs to have the channels to take a game over. There really is nobody in the state who can stop her 1-on-1 over 32 minutes. But even with great coaching (George Weeks), a shoot-first mentality is hard to find in girls basketball players, for better or worse. So Kalani's shot at a state title is done for now. It is what it is: a good season that ended in the state quarterfinals against a tremendous Iolani squad.

Give Iolani credit. The Raiders maintain a "One Team" approach, but have learned to get Jamie Smith a multitude of touches and shots, and Smith always comes through.

Waiakea, as expected, knocked out Maui, and the big test today is Iolani. All indications are that Iolani has the ballhandlers to deal with Waiakea's press. But the X Factor is that Iolani hasn't seen a team quite like Waiakea, with its fast bigs and high-scoring guards (Kirsty and Kamie Imai). In fact, Kamie Imai (5-foot-8) is in a category of players that are hard to find this season. Slashers with pull-up jumpers are starting to fade away.

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