Top-seed Lahainaluna took on third-seeded Punahou in a preseason tournament at Kaiser High School earlier this season. Greg Yamamoto | SL

View image 1 of 1

---

Top-seed Lahainaluna took on third-seeded Punahou in a preseason tournament at Kaiser High School earlier this season. Greg Yamamoto | SL

View image 1 of 1

---

A lot is on the line with this year's girls' basketball state tournament — not just for the teams involved, but also for the Hawaii High School Athletic Association.

For the first time in the 38-year history of the tournament, the HHSAA is using a regional format for Division I with two quarterfinal sites on the neighbor islands. The new two-week schedule is a pilot idea that was passed at last summer's annual meeting of state athletic directors and approved by the HHSAA board — and if successful, could lead to changes in other state tournaments (the Division I boys volleyball tournament will also use a regional format).

The 12-team tournament gets underway Friday with a pair of first-round doubleheaders at school sites on Oahu. At Moanalua, Mililani (12-1) will play Radford (8-6) at 5 p.m. and Maryknoll (9-3) meets Kailua (9-5) at 7 p.m. Over at McKinley, King Kekaulike (9-5) will take on Moanalua (10-3) at 5 p.m. with Hilo (11-2) taking on Leilehua (11-2) in the 7 p.m. game.

The winners will advance to the quarterfinals Saturday. Top-seeded Lahainaluna (14-0) will host the Maryknoll-Kailua winner at the Lahaina Civic Center at 6 p.m. and No. 2-seed Konawaena (13-0) will battle the Mililani-Radford winner in the other neighbor-island regional final at Kealakehe High School at 6 p.m. Meanwhile at Neal S. Blaisdell Center, third-seeded Punahou (11-1) will play the winner of King Kekaulike-Moanalua at 3 p.m. and No. 4-seed Roosevelt (13-0) will face off against the winner of Hilo-Leilehua at 5 p.m. The Division II tournament championship will follow at approximately 7 p.m.

The regional winners advance to the semifinals at Blaisdell Center next Friday. The change in tournament format eliminates consolation games except for the third-place game.