KAKAAKO — The Campbell Sabers proved on Wednesday night that there is no substitute for experience. 

Makana Kamakeeaina scored a game-high 15 points to lead No. 5 Campbell to its third Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I girls basketball championship with a 39-26 win over No. 7 Kalani. 

A crowd of about 750 fans at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium saw the Sabers (19-5 overall, 13-0 league) overpower the Falcons (16-7, 12-1) in a meeting of undefeated teams and No. 1 seeds. 

It marked Campbell's first league title since it won back-to-back OIA D1 crowns in 2022 and '23. 

For Kamakeeaina, a 5-foot-10 senior, it is her third league championship in as many years. She helped Kahuku win consecutive titles the last two seasons before she transferred to Campbell this season. 

"It's a big blessing. I'd like to thank my coaches, my teammates and all the supporters from Ewa Beach for believing in me and for welcoming me with open arms," said Kamakeeaina, who scored nine points after halftime. 

Kamakeeaina scored 11 of her points after halftime. She also recorded game-highs of nine rebounds and five steals. 

"She was huge," Campbell coach Jazmine Corpuz said of Kamakeeaina. 

"She likes to shoot the 3 ball and she can shoot the 3 ball, but a lot of tonight's game plan with her was to try to be aggressive on the inside because she's also a mismatch on the inside and I think she did a great job at digging in and getting boards when we needed boards and getting putbacks and posting up at the right times, which kind of opened up the 3 ball a little bit for her," Corpuz said. 

Campbell star Jaynalyn "Jiji" Sotelo was limited to 21 minutes as she dealt with foul trouble for much of the night. Sotelo picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter and a third with 2:03 left in the first half. She was called for her fourth foul just 72 seconds into the second half, which led to extended minutes for reserves Charissa Curran and Eliscia Jose. 

"The girls that had to stay on the floor, they had to bite down and they had to play with a little bit more grit and I know that they were tired. The two girls that had to come off the bench and rotate, I think they did a great job at stepping up on the defensive end," Corpuz said. "They were able to rotate, they were able to come in and give good minutes and we made it out of the third quarter and we could get Jiji back in and then we could run more of our game plan and it opened up the door a little bit more for us."

Campbell never trailed after it opened the game on a 13-0 run and held a 17-3 lead after the first quarter. Kalani cut it to a 20-9 deficit by halftime and 28-22 after three quarters. 

Hasina Robinson's bucket inside pulled the Falcons to within 29-24 with 5:50 to play, but Kamakeeaina grabbed a key offensive rebound and was fouled on the putback attempt. She made both subsequent free throws to ignite a 10-0 Sabers' run that included a Kamakeeaina 3-pointer. 

"Our coaches stressed on us during halftime about being disciplined, so I think being disciplined and just staying together and always trusting each other that we got each other's back (was important)," Kamakeeaina said. 

Kamakeeaina said that with Sotelo out, it was imperative that the Sabers stuck together to overcome her absence. 

"We're a very versatile team so I think with Jiji being out, we just had to focus on boxing out, rebounding and just playing our game because Jiji is like the hype man for us. Without her I think we're still a good team, but she's a big part of our team and she's just our hype man," Kamakeeaina said. 

She said that given the low-scoring nature of Wednesday's title game, it was imperative that Campbell buckle down defensively, especially against the Falcons' standout freshman sensation Jordin Baker, who went off for 23 points against Mililani in Monday's semifinal round. Baker brought a 20.5-point per game average into the title game. 

"She's a really great player but we just trust our guards to keep her under what she averages a game, that was a big part of tonight's game," Kamakeeaina said. 

Kalani averaged better than 55 points per game prior to Wednesday. It was just 7-of-34 shooting from the field against the Sabers. Baker finished with just nine points on 2-of-9 shooting in 31 minutes of game time; She was responsible for six of her team's 20 turnovers. Campbell tallied 12 steals. 

"Kalani's a great team, but I think for us it was just being disciplined," Kamakeeaina said. 

"We preach a lot of defense because we tell the kids all the time that if we can defend, it gives us more opportunities on the offensive side," Corpuz added. 

Aiesha DeWeever scored nine points and had three steals, Sotelo managed eight points, six rebounds and two steals. Cayden Parado chipped in six rebounds, two assists and a steal. 

Like Kamakeeaina, DeWeever had an OIA championship under her belt prior to transferring to Campbell; She was a freshman for Pearl City four years ago, when the Chargers won the league D2 title. Parado, a fellow senior, was a freshman with Sotelo on the Sabers' last championship squad. 

"We wanted to capitalize on having a little bit more experience, having some of those seniors been at this platform and played in this environment before," Corpuz noted.

It was a point not lost on Kalani coach Tyler Tsukazaki. 

"It's hard to simulate their experience, their physicality, the ball pressure, their outside shooting — I mean, they have everything and that's why they're one of the best and a lot of them already have OIA championships already — so they're really good," Tsukazaki. 

The Falcons starting lineup consists of three freshmen, one sophomore and one senior. 

Peyton Frye had seven points, Isabelle Baker recorded four points with five rebounds and Angel Stephenson contributed six rebounds in the loss. 

"I'm super proud of them, they never give up. Halftime, we were down 11 and they just kept chipping away, finally we ran out of gas but I'm super proud of them. I mean, I'm super lucky to be coaching them and we're young so they should be back, they should use this to motivate them and they'll be back — we'll be back," Tsukazaki said. 

Campbell held a 20-6 advantage in points in the paint, a 12-5 edge in points off turnovers and a 10-5 margin in second-chance points. 

"Kalani came in ready and for a young squad, they fought back; It was like it didn't even faze them," Corpuz said. "Hats off to Kalani, they made it a great game all the way through."

Corpuz's crew joins the Sabers' girls soccer team as OIA champions this winter. The school won its first state football crown back in the fall season. Last spring, Campbell captured the inaugural girls flag football state title. 

"I tell you what, it was a little bit of pressure coming into game, like, oh man, everybody got their ‘ship, you know, and then we coming in and we had a big task in front of us but I'm so proud of the girls, they got it done," Corpuz said. 

The bracket for next week's Pacific Century Fund Team Aloha/HHSAA Division I State Championships was released late Wednesday night. The Sabers are seeded third in the 12-team bracket and will have a bye through the quarterfinals. 

Kalani will host Radford in a play-in game Monday. The winner will move on to face top-seeded Kamejameha. 

Konawaena drew the No. 2 seed and Maui High is seeded fourth.