Hanalani Royals
Photo courtesy of Hanalani Athletics
vs. Top 10: 1-2 (.333)
Top 10 wins: MPI
Top 10 losses: KK, MPI
Non-Top 10 losses:
Preseason: 9-1
Playoffs: None
HHSAA D-II: 4-0
In mid-April, the COVID-19 lockdown in Hawaii has the Hanalani Royals in creative mode.
The Royals went 21-2 on the hardwood, capturing their first Division II girls basketball state championship. It wasn’t a surprise for players and coaches, parents and the purple hoopsters community. Coach Charlie Hiers’ program is busy year round, taking breaks when Royal players travel with their club teams.
But for this moment in the midst of a pandemic, the Royals are answering necessity with creative invention.
“My daughter was curling the other day with the gallon bleach bottles,” Hiers said of Charli-Ann. “They did some running the other day. We can’t shoot on campus. There’s only essential personnel. I would love to bring them in, but we have a closed campus. There’s a couple of girls that have baskets at home. I talked to one who hasn’t done any shooting at all. That’s a challenge.”
Hanalani was 8-0 entering the last weekend of preseason, and flew to Maui for two games. The Royals defeated Baldwin, then was routed by King Kekaulike, a team that later landed in the Star-Advertiser Top 10 after ending Lahainaluna’s 164-game MIL win streak.
“My goal for Maui was get two games in, team bond and get some rest before the regular season starts,” Hiers said. “King Kekaulike is very good, and that’s probably the most difficult game we had all year. It was like we didn’t know what a basketball was. We had a pretty good preseason and they’re all learning games. It was definitely the most challenging game. A lot of turnovers. Missed a lot of free throws. We weren’t doing all the basics. The score showed it. I just said, ‘Next.’ That was a Saturday. It was done. I didn’t talk about it. I didn’t even watch the tape. And we had practice on Monday, and then Damien on Tuesday.”
Then, the Royals went 8-1 in ILH D-II play. The lone loss was to Mid-Pacific, the eventual league champion. Then came a Royal run at the state tournament at the Afook-Chinen Hilo Civic Auditorium with wins over Campbell (64-29), Waimea (63-60), Hawaii Baptist (52-42) and ILH champion Mid-Pacific (40-37).
The team stayed in Mountain View, a cool, chilly area 16 miles east of Hilo.
“Staying where we stayed helped. We were 25 minutes out of Hilo. Had a really, really big house. Got to focus and have our team time. Gave them time to just be girls, but there was a focus. If you looked at the seeding, there’s no doubt we had the toughest lineup,” Hiers recalled. “That Waimea game was the pivotal game. Our girls knew they could win the tournament. Neither of us wanted to play each other in the quarters. They went up double digits, maybe 15, in the first half. We tied it at the end of the first half on a 3. We go up seven or eight. Then they tie us up and go up five or six. We tied it up with under 30 seconds left. They miss their shot and I had it in my mind, we were going to run it, but I called the time out with 4.8 seconds left. We set up the play and Faith (Mersburg) made the and-1 with less than one second left.”
The strength of ILH D-II hasn’t led to much discussion about expanding D-I. Hanalani, Mid-Pacific and Hawaii Baptist are all content to remain in D-II rather than join ‘Iolani, Maryknoll, Kamehameha and Punahou in the lethal D-I gauntlet.
“To be honest, I really haven’t had that thought,” Hiers said. “I’m pretty committed to the kiddos in our program. I’m just committed to them being great student-athletes. The teams in D-I have the experience and tenacity. I’d like to play some of them in preseason. I just want our girls to continue to be lifelong learners. In basketball, it’s my responsibility to give them opportunities to grow and improve. We’ve never won an ILH title, so that’s our goal.”
Hiers chatted on Thursday about a historic season for the small private school located in Mililani.
This season was ________.
Hiers: “Phenomenal because we reached goals that we set. The only goal we didn’t get to was winning the ILH. We knew it was going to be tough. Last year, we were short. We lost to Seabury Hall in the semifinals. It’s easier to say it now, but Lord winning, we’re going to win this game. It was the Lord’s will. We were talking about how the Lord is finally favoring our team. We’re young, and you had us competing in each game, but each game was just experience. All three of those games (at the state tournament). I think we’re all even in a certain respect. If we played it back again, Waimea, HBA and Mid-Pacific could beat us. We were focused. We had a desire to get there, but you’re right, if you matched us up age for age, we were the youngest. We hadn’t been in the championship game. HBA had three, four players who were in that game last year. Mid-Pac was in it three or four years ago with (Coach) Sherice (Ajifu).
“I was just proud of them staying focused. We were preaching the goal every day.”
This season was the movie ________.
Hiers: “
Review: Starters and key rotation/role players
Lishae Scanlan, 12 ppg, voted No. 12 All-State Fab 15, 5-11, So.
Hiers: “I think the part she improved the most on was her focus. She didn’t lose sight of what’s going on. She’s only a sophomore, so there was a lot put on her as a freshman. The thing about coaching her is her ability is of an older player, but she’s not. I have to remember that in my coaching. She got got stronger with her focus. She was locked in. If she wasn’t making shots, she played great defense. Meeting the ball at the high point, rebounding. I’d like her to be more vocal with her communication. That’s gotten a little better. Taking command of the floor. Besides the continual physical things, having a commanding presence and being more vocal on the floor.”
Maria Ralar, 11 ppg, So.
Hiers: “I think her shooting goes up and down. For her, it’s her tenacity, her steals. She’s our diver on the floor. She rebounds well. She hustles well. One game she could have 20 points and the next two, but she rebounds and hustles. She gives us energy. We worked on that, trying not to be singularly focused.”
Faith MersburgMersburg, 9 ppg, Fr.
Hiers: “Driving to the basket. She’s a strong driver to the basket. Strong, pretty aggressive, but like Lishae, we’ll be working with Faith and Lishae in communicating more. You’ve got to hug and hammer at the same time. She has a good jump shot. We just want to master that 8- to 10-foot jump shot from anywhere on the floor.”
Jacie Nava, 8 ppg, So.
Hiers: “Her defense, one-on-one, and her 3-point shooting. She’s our best 3-point shooter. She made 17 this year, probably. We’re going to look to improve that mid-range shot because everyone knows she’s a threat, so that one or two dribbles, get that 17-footer. Filling up her 2 box with more shot-making ability. She can make those. We put her in the corner and someone’s got to guard her.”
Tatem Foster, 7 ppg, Sr.
Hiers: “Her strength is her energy. She’s got good energy and she’s one of our top rebounders. Tatem loved to play the other team’s posts.”
Charli-Ann Hiers, So.
Hiers: “Our coaches call her a Swiss Army knife. The three sophomores started pretty much all year. Charlie’s not fancy, but she rebounds, she plays defense, she scores when she has to. She does what needs to be done. Last year, she played more of a guard and shot more 3s, but this year, we needed more rebounding so she was in that role.”
Did the rotation change?
Hiers: “When we’re playing a smaller team like Waimea, we’ll start Maria. And if we played a bigger team, Tatem is one of our best rebounders, so she’ll start and guard the other team’s big. If I don’t have to put Lishae on the other team’s best big, that’s an advantage. Lishae is really a 3.”
What or who surprised you most?
Hiers: “Our team didn’t get rattled. I was waiting for the young-player card to show, and they knew they should’ve beaten Mid-Pac. They didn’t let the nerves of the game override what was going on. They did really well.”
What were the most adverse challenges?
Hiers: “Keeping the team focused on one game at a time. When you look ahead, you can get bitten. The colleges and pros talk about those trap games. For us it, it was about staying focused. Sometimes, the media coverage can be detrimental when players and coaches compare results of other teams instead of taking each game at a time. So that was the challenge, for me to stay focused and having a plan and sticking to it. Staying focused from practice to practice and game to game.”
What was the peak? What was the low?
Hiers: “If there was a low, it was the King K game. They’re very good, and that’s probably the most difficult game we had all year. It was a like we didn’t know what a basketball was. We had a pretty good (9-0) preseason and they’re all learning game. What is our rotation. One more preseason game before the regular season, but it was definitely the most challenging game. A lot of turnovers. Missed a lot of free throws. We weren’t doing all the basics. The score showed it. I just said, ‘Next.’ That was a Saturday. It was done. I didn’t talk about it. I didn’t even watch the tape. And we had practice on Monday, and then Damien on Tuesday.”
What will you miss about this group?
Hiers: “I miss their fun-ness. I know that’s not a word, but I could be getting on their case or loving them or throwing down the hammer, but they’ll bounce back, crack a joke. They’re very resilient. A fun bunch.”
What are you anticipating for offseason and next season?
Hiers: “Tatem’s graduating, so we’ll get back all the other (rotation) players. My younger daughter, Chera-lei, tore her ACL in the championship game of the Intermediate season last year. She’s my strong girl, but we wanted to be very cautious with her. We could’ve used her. She’s a 5. She will push everybody else. She’s continuing to work hard and training.
“This summer, we want all of our girls to add another dimension to your game, become more of a threat. Recognize what it is, and we’ll talk about it when we get back together.
“We run a summer league and a fall league here at the school. If everything was normal, right now they would be in their clubs and traveling in July. When I get to them around May 18, we practice when we can through the first week of June, and then summer league we only play in June. Three nights a week for four weeks. I make them commit to our team in June. I don’t do anything in July since they’re getting touches with their clubs. For the last three or four years, and there’s only five or six teams, but I try to bring in as many clubs as we can. I don’t care if we win or lose, so that becomes our practice.
“In the fall, I only do four or five teams, and we play twice a week. Some have volleyball and we’re pretty heavy in academics and we want them to get a solid start academically. In the fall, we won’t practice. We just play. I have parents coaching them since we can’t do that (in the fall).
“For the last 10 years, we’ve been peeking here and there, made it to the state tournament. For the last 18, 19 years, my goal has been to build a culture at our school. That’s an accomplishment for a school our size to get to the state tournament, but we should’ve just settle for that. They know me. I’m tough on them, but we need to put the time in. We’re on this journey together. We don’t have big numbers or big girls, but we have big hearts. It’s great to see the payoff and the younger girls at our school see what’s going on. Intermediate, elementary. I had our girls talk to them, just to continue the culture, working hard and putting in good effort.
“We need our players to be a dual threat to where all five of the other team’s girls have to guard us. If not, we’re going to exploit their weak spot. Off season for all of them is to find another area to improve on. It could be defense. Whatever it is. As good as a season as it was, everyone’s at zero now. We’re back at ground zero and everyone’s working toward their goals.”
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