No. 4 Sabers win with defense to advance to OIA semifinals


EWA BEACH - No. 4 Campbell scored nearly half its points off of turnovers in a 48-26 win against visiting Farrington Friday night in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I girls' basketball quarterfinals.

The Sabers (17-5 overall, 11-0 OIA) advance to Monday's semifinals against East runner-up Moanalua (10-5, 9-2). Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium. Campbell beat Moanalua, 63-45, in a consolation game at the Iolani Classic.

"They're a good team." Sabers senior guard Cayden Parado said. ".We have a lot to work on off of this game. That was like preseason, so teams can get better over time. We just have to be disciplined and work together as a team."

Parado and Aiesha DeWeever combined for 10 of the team's 15 steals, Each had five. 

"Defense is definitely one of the things we work on a lot," DeWeever said. "Defense is our offense, but I feel like we still need to work on our defense, especially preparing for states."

Campbell might need some improvements, but it has the pedigree to get better in postseason. Parado and Jaynalyn Sotelo were members of the Sabers OIA championship team in 2023. But they aren't the only past champions. DeWeever started for Pearl City's Division II title team that same year. Moreover, Kahuku transfer Makana Kamakaeeaina won OIA titles the past two seasons, while with the Red Raiders.

Kamakeeaina and Sotelo - the Sabers' leading scorers all of the regular season - paced the Sabers with 15 and 11 points, respectively, against the Governors, who were led by Kaiyan Felipe's nine points.

In another quarterfinal at Moanalua, Na Menehune downed Leilehua, 64-39.

In the other bracket, Kalani beat Radford, 47-27, and Mililani defeated Kailua 64-32. Mililani will play Kalani in the 5:30 p.m. semiifinal Monday at McKinley. All of the quarterfinal winners secured Division I state tournament berths.

The losing quarterfinal teams still have a chance for the final two OIA state berths. Farrington will host Roosevelt, 6 p.m. Monday in one fifth-place semifinal, while Kahuku will travel to Kailua in the other fifth-place semifinal, 6 p.m. Monday. The winners will play for fifth place on Wednesday, but both will be clinched state berths.