Honolulu, HI
The final two teams in the 2026 HHSAA D1 Girls Basketball State Championship came down to the reigning and defending champs, Kamehameha Kapalama Warriors, and the ‘Iolani Raiders. this would be their third straight meeting in the d1 state title, as 'iolani won in 2024 and kamehameha kapalama won on 2025. with a chance to break the tie breaker in the title game, it would be a game where both teams know each other very well and a game where both teams star ballers would go all out.
the two ilh rivals have a great history together. when two of the best teams meet, it is always a show ready to be put on. the Kamehameha kapalama warriors go into the title match with an undefeated conference season and taking care of business in the hhsaa quarterfinal match against the Kalani falcons and the mililani trojans in the semifinal. leading the way for the lady warriors, gatorade player of the year in 2025, nihoa Dunn. the Portland state commit has been balling out in her final year of her high school career. the 6'0 ft senior has been a player who teams in the season have had a hard time slowing down. with her pretense in the post, Dunn always draws the attention of the defense to where she has the option to kick it out to the wings or go up and up down in the post and put points on the board.
the lady warriors would have an impressive overall record, with a 23 wins to 4 losses heading into the state title. an undefeated conference season was on the line for the team up on the hill, as they would look to put everything that they've worked for from beginning to end into their final match of the season.
'Iolani path to the title game wasn't easy. the former 5x back to back state champs did not beat kamehameha kapalama once this season. with a record of a 4 wins to 5 losses in the ilh season, the raiders weren't a favorite team to make it to the postseason. along with the raiders, was the maryknoll spartans, who had a one game lead against the lady raiders with a 5-7 record. only two team from the ilh conference can punch their ticket to the state tournament, and Kamehameha was one of the two. maryknoll and 'iolani would have to play one more match at the end of the season to determine which of the two would continue to keep their koa wood trophy hopes alive. the spartans ultimately fell short in the game against 'iolani 50-41.
when it all mattered the most, the lady raiders knew what it took to quiet the critiques and play their brand of basketball. the raiders who were led by junior guard and northvue December cover athlete of the month, Justice Kekauoha, have had their success on the floor with the young star who knew it was win or go home.
they handled business at home in the opening round of the hhsaa tournament against leilehua, then met a familiar foe in the quarterfinal. the Campbell sabers and 'iolani raiders have quite the history themselves in the postseason. this would be their 5 meeting in the last 6 years to where Campbell, the undefeated and new oia d1 girls basketball champions, would look to finally beat the team who has cut their koa wood trophy hopes short. the lady raiders would be down going into the 4th quarter, but the toughness and performance by Justice Kekauoha kept their season alive to play against the konawaena wildcats in the semifinal. another game where the raiders would be down and was looking like they were going home, would ultimately be one of the biggest comeback this postseason, where they would win within the final minutes of the game. Justice Kekauoha had herself a night with 23 points to get her team to come back after being down by a dozen in the second half. a team where they had lost 5 straight games in their schedule and looked like they weren't going to make the postseason, have overcome all the adversity and got themselves back into the state title for their 7th straight time.
the two teams have had themselves a productive preseason leading up to the final play of the 2025-2026 girls basketball season. from taking on the best teams in the country to facing off once again for the third straight year for the state title, the kamehameha kapalama warriors and the 'iolani raiders have proved that they were the best two teams from beginning to end and now get the chance to either be called back to back champs or the new state champs.
it's never easy beating the same team twice, but for the Kamehameha kapalama warriors, they beat the 'iolani raiders three times in the ilh season. both teams who know each other very well, have found their success with their star players who had led them to this stage. with a chance to sweep the lady raiders and become back to back champs, the former 5x back to back of 'iolani knew it would take everything in them to stop the lady warriors and hand them their first loss of the conference season.
it would be 'iolani who started the match in their favor. After a 6-0 start from ‘Iolani, Kamehameha led by Senior Center, Nihoa Dunn, would get things going for the Lady Warriors. going on a 9-0 run after being down, the lady warriors overpowered the raiders moving forward. from out rebounding to defense leading to offense, the lady warriors continued to play in a dominate performance that they've been playing all season long. nihoa Dunn would cap off the night with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. the lady raiders would continue to find success through out the starting lineup with Andrea porreca and Rylee paranada, who also contributed in the title game with 16 points and 5 rebounds for porreca and 10 points for paranada.
the 'iolani raiders struggled to knock down shots throughout the match. being down going into the half, their hopes of bringing another koa wood trophy looked similar from the last two games where they would be down and ultimately make a comeback. that wouldn't be the case this time around, as Kamehameha would continue to execute on both sides of the ball.
in the end, the Kamehameha kapalama warriors complete the sweep against the ‘Iolani Raiders and finish their season undefeated. The Kamehameha Kapalama Warriors are your back to back HHSAA D1 Girls Basketball State Champions. Congratulations to the Lady Warriors Basketball Program, School, and Community!
Mahalo to everyone that has supported NorthVue Media this year as your main source of coverage for the 2025-2026 Girl’s basketball Season. We hope that every basketball athlete has enjoyed the photos that our team have captured. Mahalo again for the amazing season and support from everyone. We look forward to covering it all over again next season!
Final Score: Kamehameha Kapalama 50 - ‘Iolani 39
for more pictures, head over to our photo gallery.
pictures taken by: Kennedy Velasco - @kennnchapo
Back to Back State Basketball Champions!
Video by: Logan Pactol - @_lowgxn
