Sacred Hearts runs into
reality against Hilo

A fairy-tale ending wasn't meant to be for the young Lancers of Sacred Hearts.

Their Cinderella run was halted by a wiser, senior-heavy squad from Hilo, which captured the First Hawaiian Bank Lady Menehune Peek championship with a 44-29 win last night at Moanalua Gym.

"Our goal was to get some experience. We tried to stress to them that they should play with some confidence," Hilo coach Kurt Kawachi said. Despite early foul trouble for leading scorer Lynelle Paranada, the Lady Vikings had too much firepower for the Lancers.

Freshman Aisha Sueda led Hilo (8-1) with seven points, while Dawna Mello, Larissa Lerma and Paranada chipped in with six points each.

"I knew my teammates had my back," said Paranada, who was named her team's Most Valuable Player. "Sacred Hearts has height, so I was concerned, but our bench picked it up."

Kawachi, low key as always, was happy, but not surprised by his team's progress.

"I expected it. We have solid posts with (Emma) Pedro and Paranada, and we have a lot of good guards," he said.

Karis Moi-Simeona paced Sacred Hearts (2-2) with 16 points. Samantha Saito, who earned team MVP honors, added 11.

Mello, a junior point guard, led Hilo's offense with precision, both in half-court sets and in transition.

"You can see their composure. They did an excellent job," Sacred Hearts coach Alan Matsui said.

The game was close at 17-14 when the Lady Viks closed out the first half with a 6-0 run. They opened the second half with an identical 6-0 run. After Kayla Nobriga scored on a fast-break layup and made a pair of free throws, Hilo led 29-14 midway through the third quarter.

Hilo then sat back in its 2-3 zone as the weary Lancers struggled from the field. Sacred Hearts got no closer than 13 the rest of the way.

Sacred Hearts opened the season with 10 of last year's 14 players gone by way of transfer. Matsui's team, laden with seven of his players from last season's junior-varsity team, pulled off wins over Campbell and host Moanalua to reach the tournament finals.

"Our kids have come a long way," Matsui said. "They're still a little hesitant."

Sacred Hearts visits Hawaii Baptist on Friday in another nonconference game.

Hilo upended Kamehameha-Hawaii two weeks ago. KS-Hawaii later came to Oahu and upset No. 1-ranked Punahou.

Mid-Pacific 51, Moanalua 34

Jasmine Vieira pumped in 19 points as the Owls (4-3) broke the game open in the third quarter to place third in the tourney. Mesha Macadangdang led the Lady Menehunes (2-5) with eight points.

Nanakuli 29, Campbell 27

Delisha Kaimi scored seven points to lead the Golden Hawks to fifth place. Darlyn Livae led the Lady Sabers with seven points.

Kamehameha-Maui 63, Waialua 39

In the seventh-place game, Christy Marfil and Lahela Matsui scored 11 points each as the Warriors overwhelmed the Bulldogs.

Chelsey Ramirez led Waialua with 22 points. Jamie Souza added 13.