Throughout her time at Waiakea, Danielle Oda has shown up, tied her shoelaces and bumped elbows with an “in-it-to-win-it” attitude.
Throughout her time at Waiakea, Danielle Oda has shown up, tied her shoelaces and bumped elbows with an “in-it-to-win-it” attitude.
This season, Oda is happy to report that she has plenty of company, and “we’re all here on time.”
It’s just a fact of life for Warriors’ girls basketball. To get where they want to go, they have to either go through a fantastic foe, Konawaena, or a very formidable one, Hilo or Honokaa.
The rugged nature of BIIF Division I has left Oda on the wrong end of myriad lopsided scores during her three years as a starter.
“A lot of girls just expected to lose,” Oda said.
Wins in bunches may take some time, but change is in the air at Waiakea, starting at the top with first-year coach Brandon Kauhi, who’s ready to mold a revamped roster that’s been bolstered by one senior who is on the mend, another who’s on the come and a promising group of freshmen.
Thanks to Kauhi, when Oda shows up 15 minutes before practice these days, she’s not alone.
“Last year didn’t feel like we were always playing as a team,” said Oda, who’s playing for her third coach. “It’s more organized and intense this season. More challenging practices and we help each other get better because we want to get to states.”
HHSAA tournament appearances used to be taken for granted at Waiakea when Grant Kauhi, Brandon’s brother, was the coach, but the Warriors’ state drought extends to 2012.
Brandon Kauhi previously helped assist the Waiakea and Kamehameha boys programs, and though it would be an understatement to say he’s excited to get going, he’s not getting ahead of himself with lofty expectations— except when it comes to attitude.
“The things we tell them is we cannot question effort,” he said. “It always has to be 110 percent out there. We have to get to every loose ball, we have to block out everyone.”
His brain trust includes assistants Shannon Poe, who was formerly at Kamehameha, and Randy Apele. With an eye on developing a pipeline, Kauhi has a club team, B-Elite.
“Defense will carry us,” Kauhi said. “We want to push the ball when we can, but we’ll have to run half court to be able to compete with the best.”
The Warriors finished 6-5 last season, falling to Konawaena in the BIIF semifinals, simply by beating the teams they were better than and losing to those they couldn’t match up with.
There is reason to expect improvement this season thanks to three returning starters, and a fourth if you include 5-foot-4 senior Kryssie Okinaka, who injured her knee last preseason and didn’t return.
“Having her healthy is huge,” Kauhi said. “She’s so athletic and her defense is amazing.”
Oda, 5-5, could see time at forward down low with 5-7 center Madison Hwang, who cut her teeth as a freshman last season. Claire Kaneshiro also gained seasoning last season as a freshman and returns to run the point.
The wild card on the roster is Skylar Thomas. The reigning BIIF Division I softball Player of the Year didn’t play basketball last season, but at 5-11 she adds much-needed length and athleticism.
“She brings a different dimension,” Kauhi said. “The goal is to get her ready for BIIFs.”
He likes his team’s depth, and as it stands now at least three freshmen with high basketball IQs will see quality minutes: Kelsie Imai, Bethany Honma and Keeli-Jade Smith.
Imai has a link to Waiakea’s last BIIF title-winning team in 2008. Her sister, Kirsty, was a senior on the last BIIF team to claim D-I before Konawaena started its dominant run.
“We’re hungry to win,” Oda said. “I’ve always been one of the leaders, but now I’m getting on people and making sure this is my team and we’re on the right track.”
Kauhi certainly wasn’t to looking to ease into competition when he booked Waiakea’s preseason tournament, which runs Thursday through Saturday at the Warriors’ gym.
Headlined by the two-time state champion Wildcats, the field includes five teams that reached the state Division I tournament last season, including Kaiser, Leilehua, and Mililani of the OIA, as well as Division II state runner-up Kamehameha-Hawaii.
Hilo and Honokaa will provide a peek into the D-I pecking order when they lock horns Thursday.
“We have a lot of room to grow,” Kauhi said. “If we do A and B then C will follow, and I believe we’ll be where we need to be.”
Waiakea girls tournament
Thursday
Kamehameha vs. Kaiser, 3 p.m.
Hilo vs. Honokaa, 5 p.m.
Konawaena vs. Mililani, 6:30 p.m.
Waiakea vs. Leilehua, 8 p.m.
Friday
Honokaa vs. Mililani, 3:30 p.m.
Kamehameha vs. Hilo, 5 p.m.
Konawaena vs. Leilehua, 6:30 p.m.
Waiakea vs. Kaiser 8 p.m.
Saturday
Hilo vs. Leilehua, 3:30 p.m.
Kamehameha vs. Honokaa, 5 p.m.
Konawaena vs. Kaiser, 6:30 p.m.
Waiakea vs. Mililani, 8 p.m.