Sabers repeat as queens of the OIA

The Sabers celebrate after winning their second consecutive OIA Division I championship. Michael Lasquero | SL

As the saying goes, defense wins championships.

Yes, that's championships plural.

Campbell repeated as OIA champions Wednesday night and completed an undefeated 13-0 run through league play with a 28-22 win over host Moanalua in the league's Division I league title game before a crowd of 500.

"It's so surreal," said Sabers coach Jazmine Corpuz. "Our girls work so hard and it's so awesome to see it pay off. I think it's more so for them to confirm that if they work hard at it, they can achieve it."

Campbell rode a staunch defensive performance to victory, holding Na Menehune to just 25 percent shooting from the field (9 of 36). The Sabers also recorded nine steals and prevented any shot attempt by Moanalua in the final 1:49 of regulation.

"That's always been kind of our bread-and-butter," Corpuz said. "We preach defense and we got the girls to do it."

Even though it used a rotation that had four or five guards on the floor, Campbell did an exceptional job in fronting and defending 5-foot-11 Shailoh Liilii. The Sabers double-teamed her whenever she received the ball in the post and forced her into a playmaking position where she needed to kick it out to the perimeter. Liilii was responsible for Na Menehune's four total assists, but Moanalua as a whole had 18 total turnovers.

Campbell senior Julien Parado led the effort both offensively and defensively with eight points and 11 boards, six of them coming on the offensive glass. She also knocked down two triples from opposing corners in the first quarter to set the tone early for the Sabers.

"We knew Shailoh was one of the taller posts on their side and on our team, I'm one of the posts so I really had to battle it out with her and just making sure that my teammates have my back as well because I know I wouldn't be able to guard her by myself," Parado said. "Collectively we were able to stop her."

Aliyah Bantolina was the next leading scorer for the Sabers with six points while dishing out a team-high three assists. She was also one of six Campbell players to record a steal as the Sabers kept putting the pressure on Na Menehune.

"We have a big emphasis on defense," Bantolina said. "Defense wins championships so we work hard at it and we support each other and work hard in practice."

Campbell also hustled on the offensive glass with 11 offensive rebounds to Moanalua's eight. Even though they missed multiple free throws in the last minute of regulation, the Sabers were able to secure their own misses to milk precious time off the clock.

Akaecia Mateo led Moanalua (13-1) in the loss with 10 points and nine rebounds. She also scored six straight points to end the third quarter to make it a 26-16 game heading into the final period of play.

Both teams are one of six OIA teams to qualify for the Heide & Cook Girls Basketball Championships, which starts next Monday. As the league runner-up, Na Menehune will host a first round game on Jan. 30 while Campbell will not take the floor until next Wednesday.

Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].