MEDIA RELEASE

In its 29th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, Thurday (March 13) announced Chanelle Molina of Konawaena High School as its 2013-14 Gatorade Hawaii Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Molina is the third Gatorade Hawaii Girls Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Konawaena High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Molina as Hawaii’s best high school girls basketball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award announced in March, Molina joins an elite alumni association of past state girls basketball award-winners, including Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Diana Taurasi (1998-99 & 1999-00, Don Antonio Lugo HS, Calif.), Maya Moore (2005-06 Collins Hill HS, Ga.), Rashanda McCants (2004-05, Asheville HS, N.C.), Shyra Ely (1999-00, Ben Davis HS, Ind.) and Lisa Leslie (1988-89, Morningside HS, Calif.)

The 5-foot-6 sophomore guard averaged 23 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.4 steals and 5.4 assists per game while shooting 77 percent from inside the arc, leading the Wildcats (25-4) to the Division I quarterfinals. A two-time First Team All-Tournament selection, Molina was named the 2014 Big Island Interscholastic Federation Player of the Year.

Molina has maintained a 3.0 GPA in the classroom. She has volunteered locally on behalf of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s Pink Zone initiative to promote breast cancer awareness and as a youth basketball coach.

“Chanelle Molina is an extremely coachable player,” said Konawaena head coach Bobbie Awa. “She is the type of player who will work hard and then work even harder after that. She’s never satisfied and she always wants to learn more and continue to improve.”

Molina will begin her junior year of high school this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Molina joins recent Gatorade Hawaii Girls Basketball Players of the Year Aliyah Pana (2012-13, Hilo High School), Dawnyelle Awa (2011-12, Konawaena High School), Maiki Viela (2010-11 & 2009-10, Lahainaluna High School), Kanisha Bello (2008-09, Waiakea), Jamie Smith (2007-08, Iolani School), and Shawna-Lei Kuehu (2006–07, Punahou) among the state’s list of former award winners.

To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade Player of the Year on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of past winners and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit www.gatorade.com/poy