Pearl City turns back late Castle rally to win OIA DII Varsity Girls Basketball Championship Title 39-32

Jan 26, 2023 | PC Community, PC Sports, Uncategorized

The Pearl City Chargers captured the 2022-23 Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II Girls Basketball Championship Title by defeating the Castle Knights last night at Moanalua High School.

The Chargers led by as much as 16 points in the ball game, but held off a late Knights rally down the stretch to win by seven points and claim the championship title.  Junior Shilee Scanlan (13 points, 3-3pm, 13 rebounds) and Freshman Aiesha DeWeever (9 points, 6 rebounds) pumped in key baskets in the final minutes of the ball game to hold off Castle.

Without starter Aiyanna Parker, who was out ill, the Chargers needed their players to step up and fill the void in the championship game. They also found themselves with players in foul trouble but worked together to keep the pressure on the Knights.

This is a very special group of newly crowned OIA Champion Pearl City Chargers who are as humble as their coaches and always work hard while taking care of each other on and off the court.

This is an extremely proud and celebrated moment in the history of the Chargers girls basketball program as both the Junior Varsity and Varsity have won 2022-23 OIA DII Girls Basketball Championships.

Kyle Marin, Head Coach, Pearl City Chargers Girls Basketball

“It’s been an amazing season, and I can’t stress how proud I am of these girls. They’ve believed in each other the entire way; really bought into the system we’ve brought in and they’re rewarding themselves for all the hard work. Tonight, we were actually down one player due to illness, and things got a little interesting with some foul trouble, but they rallied together and got it done.

I think it’s truly a special thing to see both the JV and varsity programs enjoy such a level of success at the same time. Our JV and varsity coaches are amazing, and our girls are extremely coachable and eager to learn. I think the future of Pearl City girls basketball looks really bright. It’s an exciting time for sure!”

#20 Shilee Scanlan – 13 points

I think this win is really nice for us, we put a lot of work in, and it really showed out today. It doesn’t matter the size, the size difference, we always compete with other during practice, and it really helps out right now. I know my girls are really happy, and they should be because they worked really hard for this all the time. Even if my team has no experience playing club, this is their first or second year, so I’m really proud of them since November until now, and how much they’ve grown. Each one of them is part of this team.

Late in the game I had to talk to my team to settle down, they were kind a  getting excited and I told them to keep their head in the game, we’re not perfect and we can grow from here. We have really good coaches that try to push us, they care about us. It’s all from love. It’s all love and they want what’s good for us.”

#2 Aiesha DeWeever – 9 points

“I’m very happy that we won.  I feel that I could have done better to help the team win, but I’m happy with the performance that I had today. Tonight showed that we can really work hard as a team and keep our heads up even when we’re down. It’s nice that both the JV and Varsity won championships and hopefully we can keep it going and win more.  I would like to say thank you to my coaches, my teammates, my mom and dad and club coach.”

Pearl City and Castle will now head off to the HHSAA State Division II Girls Basketball Championship Playoffs. TBA

CONGRATULATIONS and CHARGERS!

Leading Scorers:

Castle – Kaila Chun Carvahlo 8 points; Presley Gibson 4; Madisyn Kong 4; Tehani Maxwell 1 point, 1 3pm; Dorian Pokipala 1 point

Pearl City – Shilee Scanlan 13 points, 3pm, 13 rebounds; Aiesha DeWeever 9 points; Kendal Adaro 6 points, 2-3pm; Kaiesha DeWeever 6 points; Chloe Bulatao 4 points; Alexandra Dobson 1 point

Photos by Barry Villamil | MyPearlCity.com