BY MATT GERHART | STEPHENS MEDIA ADVERTISING Seniors Chelsea Poe and Bobbi Montibon liken the Kamehameha-Hawaii girls basketball program to a big family. The reunion, it seems, is always in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division II girls basketball championship
BY MATT GERHART | STEPHENS MEDIA
Seniors Chelsea Poe and Bobbi Montibon liken the Kamehameha-Hawaii girls basketball program to a big family.
The reunion, it seems, is always in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division II girls basketball championship game.
Poe scored 19 points Friday, and Montibon put on an early shooting display from 3-point range and finished with 18 points as the Warriors raced past Hawaii Prep 54-36 in the semifinals at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
Kamehameha (9-2) will try for its fifth straight league title at 6 p.m. today against Honokaa (7-4), which beat Ka’u in the other semifinal.
“It’s a new feeling every year,” said Poe, a four-year starter, “because it’s a different team. It seems like the chemistry gets stronger every year.”
The Warriors, last season’s state runner-up, also clinched a spot in the Hawaii High School Athletic Association tournament for the eighth consecutive time.
“Everybody’s really disciplined and family-oriented,” said Montibon, a four-year varsity player. “We talk about defense, defense, defense. Everybody clicks and works together. All four years it’s been like that.”
Freshman Shayla Ignacio led Ka Makani with 10 points, but HPA (8-4) was plagued by turnovers and poor shooting in the first quarter and never fully recovered.
Kamehameha scored the game’s first 12 points and twice led by as many as 20.
“Discipline, aggressiveness and teamwork,” Poe said of her team’s fast start, “basically the three things we live by … and heart.”
Ka Makani still can reach its seventh straight state tournament with a win today against the Trojans (4-8) in the 4:30 p.m. third-place game.
HPA, which shot just 34 percent, lost to Kamehameha at the BIIF tournament for the fifth consecutive year. The previous four came in the BIIF final.
“We made a couple of nice runs, but you can’t turn the ball over against a good team,” HPA coach Craig Kimura said. “We played hard. We’re slowly getting better.”
Lindsey, a senior, finished with seven points, while freshman Eliyah Fernandez and sophomore Chancis Fernandez chipped in with six for the Ka Makani.
That the Warriors’ stingy defense gave HPA problems came as little surprise, however Montibon’s shooting touch even caught coach Garrett Arima off-guard.
She hit her third 3-pointer before HPA scored its first point. When the Warriors forced misses and created turnovers, Poe fueled the transition game, scoring on a driving layup early in the second quarter to give Kamehameha a 24-4 lead.
Sophomore Casey Poe scored nine points for Kamehameha.
Hawaii Prep 4 13 12 7 — 36
KS-Hawaii 18 10 13 13 — 54
c Honokaa 36, Ka’u 29: Senior Precious Chong scored 12 points, and junior Yvonne Daniels added 11 as the Dragons recovered from a sluggish start to secure a trip to the state tournament for the second straight season.
The Dragons got to Oahu last season by winning the third-place game, but they did it this time by advancing to their first BIIF final since 2007.
“I prefer this way,” coach James Lukzen said.
Sophomore Hunter Liftee added seven points.
Senior Pilialoha Kailiawa scored eight points for the Trojans, and senior Janessa Jara added seven.
Ka’u 9 14 3 3 — 29
Honokaa 3 15 12 6 — 36
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