Sports Update

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Saturday, May 24, 1997

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Best ever face off
in prep baseball

The two most dominant teams in state prep baseball history meet at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for the championship of the 39th Wally Yonamine Foundation/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Tournament at Aloha Stadium. The winner earns its seventh title, breaking a tie with its Interscholastic League of Honolulu rival.

The top-seeded Raiders (22-1) haven't lost since April 30 when the Buffanblu handed them a 6-5 setback at Ala Wai Field. Iolani ran its win streak to 10 straight yesterday with a 14-3 pummeling of Kauai in an afternoon quarterfinal and an 11-3 semifinal victory over fourth-seeded Maui last night.

Punahou (18-6), which began the season 3-4, won its 15th out of its last 17 contests with a 6-2 semifinal victory over unseeded Kaiser. The Cougars held off No. 2 seed Mililani, 5-4, in Friday's completion of Thursday's rain-suspended quarterfinal.

Punahou, Honokaa vie
for girls' basketball title

HILO -- Punahou came into the Hawaii High School Athletic Association girls' basketball tournament as the No. 2 seed, but No. 1 seed Honokaa has to be wondering if anyone can stop the Buffanblu.

Punahou has dispatched its first two opponents by a total margin of 53 points and the Buffanblu don't seem to be leaving much perspiration on the Afook-Chinen Civic Center floor. That's because head coach Shelley Fey has used every player on her deep roster to wage a relentless full-court pressure game.

The physically punishing Dragons, led by heralded point guard Dayna "Sissy" Gambill, are now the only team standing between the Punahou Express and the state title, which will be decided in a 7:30 game Saturday night.

The Buffanblu won their last state crown under Fey's guidance in 1994. They seek the school's fifth overall.

Honokaa has never won a state girls' basketball title and the Dragons want to become the first neighbor island team to accomplish that feat since Waiakea won back-to-back titles in 1985-86.