The jumper is pure.

Lahainaluna senior Lola Donez is proof that the shooting is easy, scoring is hard. The 5-foot-11 point guard is good at the hard part, even as every defense makes her the focal point of game plans. She was navigator, distributor and, when possible, sharpshooter extraordinaire for a Lady Lunas squad thin on numbers, but big on heart. She regularly played all 32 minutes per game.

Donez is a near-unanimous selection by coaches and media for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser All-State Girls Basketball Player of the Year honors. She was followed in All-State voting by Kamehameha sophomore Nihoa Dunn and ‘Iolani freshman Justice Kekauoha.

Donez averaged 27 points per game, and her 41-point performance against Waiakea in the Heide & Cook/HHSAA State Championships broke the record held by Kamehameha’s Kalina Obrey.

Dean Young of ‘Iolani was voted All-State Coach of the Year after guiding the Raiders (26-3 overall) to a fifth state championship in a row. Pua Straight of Kamehameha was second in the voting, followed by Lahainaluna’s Iolani Kaniho, Maryknoll’s Chico Furtado and Hanalani’s Charlie Hiers.

Donald Yamada (Kamehameha-Hawaii), Bobbie Awa (Konawaena) and Donald Kamai (McKinley) also received votes.

In an age when fewer of the state’s taller female athletes are playing basketball — opting for volleyball specialization instead — Donez is pure hoops of any decade.

“Lola is a special talent that can score at all three levels. She put the Lahainaluna team on her back,” Young said. “She faced special defenses and double teams, and was still amazingly productive.”

Waiakea beat Lahainaluna twice in preseason, but the Lunas improved and knocked off the Warriors in the state quarterfinals. Donez scored 33 and 18 points in the first two contests before breaking the state record in the biggest matchup.

“Her skill set, one, she’s deceptively quicker than you’d think. The fluidity, a lot of my volunteer coaches called and asked. This girl plays like she belongs playing with the boys,” Waiakea coach Shawn Fuiava said. “Everything is so fluid. The jump shot. Most girls have to set their feet, jump stop and shoot. Once she got that thing going, she wasn’t going to miss.”

Donez is one of the few who has been voted POY while not playing for a state champion.

“She rarely puts her head down when she misses a shot or someone makes a mistake. That’s the mentality she brings. She celebrates her teammates’ accomplishments more than her own,” Kaniho said. “That’s what makes her special. She makes everyone around her better.”

Her return to the islands after a two-plus years in California made a major difference for the Lady Lunas.

Coming home is a theme that Kahuku coach Artevia Wily enjoyed. Two of her players left private schools to play for their hometown team under Wily.

“Lola Donez, I think her going home and playing for Lahainaluna was great. Her skills and IQ showed, and it really helped her team this season,” Wily said. “She really represented for Lahaina.”

Donez’s basketball life began as a part of the Menehune program in Lahaina that produced many of the finest hoopsters in MIL history. In the past two decades, the Lunas sent Maiki Tihada to Gonzaga, Milika Taufa to Indiana, Cameron Fernandez to Washington State, Fi-Mea Hafoka to San Jose State and Keleah Koloi to Hawaii. The legacy is in Donez’s heart.

“Mata (Faleta) and I and a couple other ones … kind of stopped playing before high school, but we had a pretty good Menehune team. A lot of the ones who played (for Lahainaluna) the past years,” Donez said.

The ball never stops moving in her hands as she recalls those years. The smile is there. Tradition was and is for Menehune ballers to visit and sometimes practice with the Lady Lunas during the offseason.

“Coach always brought us. I think that’s why the program is built so strong. It was thriving,” Donez said.

The program’s momentum, built by then-Lunas head coach Todd Rickard and staff, was derailed significantly by the pandemic restrictions.

“COVID definitely killed it off, but it’s getting better. We’re starting to get to the young ones, going to their games and stuff,” she said. “They have some people coming up next year (to Lahainaluna), too. I love them. They always come and say hi, always give hugs. It feels nice for me just because when I was younger, I loved it when the high schoolers would come and help me. It’s awesome I can do the same thing for them.”

When the pandemic began, the discussion began. As 2020 progressed and high school sports were on the shelf, she and her family decided to depart to the mainland.

The price would be steep for Donez.

There could be risks by leaving Lahaina, entering new territory. Nothing was guaranteed. The reward, however, outweighed the other risk: staying home and running the risk of less exposure, less connection with college coaches.

“COVID had hit. They sat me down and talked to me. They were like, ‘We’re going to give you the decision. You can stay here, but we don’t know how things are going to turn out. Or you can head to the mainland.’ I had a school figured out and club teammates,” Donez said.

Leaving her roots, friends, teammates, extended family was painful. The dream of finding the best competition, grinding day by day to make her dream come true, none of it mattered if she was alone.

“Me and my mom (Jayme) and my dog were up there,” Donez said.

She started in club ball with the California Storm, who had seen her at a camp during her eighth grade year.

“I was shocked. It’s a stacked team and everything. I played for them my freshman year and kind of decided it wasn’t the best fit for me,” she said.

Later, Donez switched to Jason Kidd’s Select team.

“I kind of reached out through my parents and they offered me a spot. I played on their 16U select team and junior year I was on their 17U. That’s when I got my offers,” she said.

By then she was attending school at Oaks Christian in Southern California, and by the end of junior year, her short-term dream was in hand. Cal offered Donez a scholarship. Other offers came from San Diego, Santa Clara, San Jose State and Hawaii.

“My junior year, we were talking again. I had my offers. I was good. I said, I want to come home, so I came home for senior year. I definitely came home for my community. Definitely for the people. It’s a lot different from the mainland. I missed that home feel. That tight-knit community. They don’t have that up there,” she said. “I wanted to go home.”

Her father, Jason, had stayed back on Maui through the years.

“He had to work,” she said. “Being closer, our family being back and everything. Just to come back home.”

The process was endured. Business first.

“It was really good for me. I don’t regret anything. My high school experience out there was good. My club team, everything was good,” Donez said. “I’m happy I got to make new relationships and meet people out there, and still be able to come home and have everything like it was. Come home to normalcy.”

Being on the Jason Kidd Select team, she noted, was the primary reason for her exposure. More than 50 college coaches were at club tournaments.

“We had four or five Top 100 girls on our team. They had choke offers. I guess my coaches saw a lot in me, so I ended up starting for the whole season. I ended up having a good summer and two college coaches called,” she said.

Not long after returning to the Valley Isle, normalcy dissipated.

Catastrophe struck her hometown. Aug. 8, 2023, changed the world around her. Donez kept working. When school re-opened, the Lady Lunas got their chance to build and re-build as a team, as part of a tight-knit community. The uncertainty, the fragmentation of families and their lives, it was another empty stretch for a senior class that had already lost freshman year to the pandemic.

Donez has a perspective chiseled out of a unique journey. That jump shot is approaching seven figures when it comes to repetitions.

A struggling Lahainaluna team took its lumps early on at the Konawaena Invitational, then gradually gained momentum. With Donez adding experience, IQ and a top-tier skill set, the Lunas were much better this season. There was more, though. Her patience and demeanor never wavered. Consistent chats with Kaniho during short breaks in every game. For Kaniho, it was perhaps the most enjoyable season of his stint as head coach.

“It was a fun ride. From all the stuff these girls have faced from the beginning, for them to come with a smile on their faces makes it that much more enjoyable,” he said. “When her dad was the (Menehune age-group) head coach, I was the assistant helping him. I was coaching her brother, Joaquin, before that. When he was in eighth grade, I told him, right now Lolo is your little sister. Someday, you’ll be Lola’s brother. One day, he said, ‘It happened.’ He was in college and someone said, ‘Aren’t you Lola’s brother?’”

All the hills, stairs, miles of training as a Lady Luna in the offseason separated the strong from the weak. Donez credits her brother for fueling her fire.

“Without him, I wouldn’t be playing basketball. He would take me to pickups all the time. I would try and do everything he would do. He taught me a lot of the offense I still have now,” Donez said. “One of my trainers on the mainland, AJ (Moye), has been a big part in developing me. When I first moved there, he was a big part of my support system.”

Berkeley is never far away. Donez wore a Navy blue Cal T-shirt during preseason and state-tournament trips to Oahu. Not so long from now, she may be more than a basketball player.

“I’ve been wanting to study biochemistry since my sophomore year. I want to go into medicine in the future. I love the idea. I want to do something in the medical field,” she said. “I just can’t handle blood.”

Dunn, a 6-1 center, powered a young Warriors squad to the state final, averaging 15 points per game. Her range extended to the elbow and baseline with the occasional 3-pointer.

“That girl, she is the most dominant big in the state. I think she makes the most of the touches she gets,” Fuiava said. “Her toughness, and I do notice she has more drive.”

Kaniho agreed.

“She’s solid. My opinion, she’s the best big — all-around skills, can shoot from outside, a good first step,” he said. “A workhorse who battles again and again.”

Straight has seen Dunn mature since starting her first game as a freshman.

“I’ve enjoyed watching her growth as a person and player, her basketball skills and intangibles. She’s bought into the hard work it takes to get better. I’m excited to see her continue to grow and develop,” Straight said. “The next step for her game would be to continue to increase her shooting range and comfortability putting the ball on the floor.”

Campbell senior guard Aliyah Bantolina paced the All-Defensive team selections. Moanalua center Shailoh Liilii, ‘Iolani center Mele Sake and guard Mia Frye, and Maryknoll guard Madison Guillermo round out the first five.

The second five includes Mikylah Labanon of Kamehameha, Hailey Fernandez of ‘Iolani, Isabella Arrisgado of Maryknoll,, Elisa Holakeituai of Kahuku and Donez.

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FAB 15

1- Lola Donez, Lahainaluna

2- Nihoa Dunn, Kamehameha

3- Justice Kekauoha, ‘Iolani

4- Pua Herrington, Waiakea

5- Keanu Huihui, Kamehameha-Hawaii

6- Mia Frye, ‘Iolani

7- Mele Sake,‘ Iolani

8- Brooke Samura, Hawaii Prep

9- Aliyah Bantolina, Campbell

10- Olivia Malafu, Kapaa

11- Tavina Harris, Konawaena

12- Jolie Mantz, Waiakea

13- Posia Wily, Kahuku

14- Taysia Molina-Schulte, Campbell

15- Shailoa Liilii, Moanalua

Coach of the year — Dean Young, ‘Iolani

HONORABLE MENTION

Ellana Klemp, Hanalani

Tailele Wily-Ava, Kahuku

Rylee Paranada, Kamehameha

Makenzie Alapai, Kamehameha

Isabella Arrisgado, Maryknoll

Maela Honma, KS-Hawaii

Haikela Hiraishi, Konawaena

Mikylah Labanon, Kamehameha

Kiani Ho‘olulu, Kailua

Tuisila Wily-Ava, Kahuku

Makelah Richardson, Roosevelt

Jirah Villanueva, Radford

Keilani Stewart, Punahou

Juseana Rae Delatori, Lahainaluna

Jaynalyn Sotelo, Campbell

Makana Kamakeeaina, Kahuku

Veniza Jackson, Lanai

Julissa Bollinger, Radford

Kalena Akinaka, King Kekaulike

Keiki McGee, ‘Iolani

Hailey Fernandez, ‘Iolani

Ahnastaziah Wright, Punahou