"Team Aloha," a select group of Hawai'i high school girls basketball players, lived up to its name last weekend in winning the 24-team Storm Swish Invitational at Santa Barbara, Calif.

According to Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Team Aloha's general manager/assistant coach, the 12 girls from O'ahu and the Big Island showed unselfish play and good sportsmanship on the court plus humble and classy behavior off it throughout the two-day event at UC Santa Barbara.

"One referee came up to me afterward and said that was the best all-star team he had ever officiated, because there was never any talking trash, sour looks or back talk," said Hannemann, who formed the team and contributed funds raised through his annual Girls Basketball Jamboree. "The people at the hotel said they were the best-behaved high school team they've seen. That made me feel proud. They were a coach's dream — they did everything we asked."

And even more.

They won all five tournament games despite facing an almost constant height disadvantage.

"Our girls were undersized, but they were just diving after every loose ball and trying to get every rebound," said Team Aloha coach Dana Takahara-Dias.

Punahou junior Shawna-Lei Kuehu scored 21 points and Honoka'a senior Keisha Kanekoa added 13 points to lead Team Aloha past the California Storm Black, 60-48, in the title game. The Storm, which featured all-star players from Southern California, led 34-24 at halftime.

Team Aloha's games were watched by about 100 college coaches, including those from UCLA, Southern Cal, Notre Dame, Washington State, Oregon, UC Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount, Hawai'i and others.

The team, which was sponsored by the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association Foundation, originally was set to play in the Adidas Fall Finish Tournament in Indianapolis, but that tournament was canceled.