Todd Rickard couldn’t help himself.

"We told ourselves we would never do it again, but we did it again," the Lahainaluna girls basketball coach said.

What the Lady Lunas did was play in tournaments at Kaiser and Farrington simultaneously last week.

The shuttling from one campus to the other had a near pitfall or two. After winning a 51-50 thriller over Punahou on Thursday, the Lunas rushed from Hawaii Kai to Kalihi. They left at around 6:15 p.m. for a game at Farrington slated for 6:30.

It all worked out, though. Lahainaluna went 5-1, losing only to defending state champion Kamehameha 61-46 on Saturday. By then, the Lunas were running on fumes.

Point guard Lindsey Bates and an experienced backcourt might be one of the best in the state. The Lunas are young, long and athletic in the frontcourt.

"Our best player didn’t even play," Rickard said of transfer Cameron Fernandez, who missed all but 30 seconds because of a foot injury.

Fernandez was the MIL player of the year at King Kekaulike last season.

The Lunas, like many other teams early in preseason, were whistled for a whole lot of fouls. They had seven in the first three minutes against Punahou as officials will be enforcing the hand-check rule this season at the college and high school levels.

No coach seems to like it.

"But it was a good experience for us. Now our girls know how the referees here (on Oahu) are going to call it," Rickard said. "We’re an aggressive defense and the girls will learn to adjust."

The Lunas host a tournament during Thanksgiving week and will play Honokaa, Mililani, Leilehua and Kalani. Then they’ll travel to play in the Konawaena tourney a week later.

They won’t get another shot at Kamehameha, the defending D-I state champion, until postseason. Rickard was impressed with the Warriors’ top hoopsters.

"Alohi (Robins-Hardy) was tough inside. She got a lot of tips and rebounds and layups," he said of the 6-foot-1 forward. "Their point guard (Tiare Kanoa) is tough, too. She can handle the ball, run the offense, hit the mid-range shot. She’s a senior and she’s ready to go. She’s the best point guard I’ve seen in the state so far."

Kamehameha went unbeaten in the Kaiser tourney, using an ultra-quick, pass-first fast break and steady halfcourt play. Konawaena went 2-1, losing only to Kamehameha 45-44. Roosevelt went 1-2, but had a strong showing with an exceptional transition game and a crisp backdoor-passing halfcourt offense.