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KONAWAENA CLINCHES STATE BERTH WITH VICTORY

BY BILL O’REAR

STEPHENS MEDIA

sports@hawaiitribune-herald.com

HILO — Konawaena and Waiakea played the heavy favorites’ role to the max on Friday night, chalking up overpowering wins in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I girls basketball tournament.

In the first semifinal before about 550 fans at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, the unbeaten Wildcats (11-0) ran past Hilo 59-25 and claimed one of the BIIF’s two Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I state tournament berths.

In the second semifinal, unbeaten Waiakea (11-0) rolled over Kealakehe 66-11 to capture the league’s other state tournament berth.

Konawaena, West Hawaii’s No. 1 seed, will battle Waiakea, East Hawaii’s No. 1 seed, at 7:30 p.m. today for the overall BIIF championship at the Civic.

Both coaches played their subs most of the second half, or else the final margin of victory could have been even more lopsided.

The league champion will be awarded one of the state Division I tournament’s top four seeds and draw a first-round bye in the 12-team event scheduled for Feb. 7-10 on Oahu.

The BIIF runner-up will play in the opening round.

Against Hilo on Friday night, Konawaena rode the brilliant performance of senior Lia Galdeira and a suffocating defense to overpower the young Vikings.

Galdeira, a 5-foot-9 senior guard, poured in 27 points to go along with 11 rebounds, eight steals and two assists in 21/2 quarters of play. She scored 20 of those points in the first half as the Wildcats led 20-11 at the end of the first period and 34-15 at the intermission.

Konawaena also had 16 of its 21 steals in the opening half, with Galdeira grabbing seven of those.

In the third quarter, Konawaena outscored Hilo 23-2, and Wildcats coach Bobbie Awa pulled her starters early in the period and let her subs play the rest of the way.

Senior Makayla Awa followed Galdeira with 10 points, and senior point guard Dawnyelle Awa, despite a sprained ankle, had nine points, five assists, four steals and six rebounds.

Sophomore Aliyah Pana led Hilo with seven points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Amber Vaughn and freshman Chailey Cabalis each added six points. Freshman Sydnee Yokota came off the bench to spark the Vikings with a pair of jumpers for four points.

“It’s a great win because it helped us accomplish one of our goals in making it to the state tournament,” Bobbie Awa said. “We also enter the season with that as one of our goals as well as winning the BIIF and state championships. Tonight was the first step.”

Hilo, East Hawaii’s No. 2 seed, finished its season with a 6-5 record.

Hilo 11 4 2 8 — 25

Konawaena 20 14 23 2 — 59

c Waiakea 66, Kealakehe 11: Senior guards Alyssa Ferreira and Ciera Pacheco sparked a tenacious full-court press to lead the Warriors to a convincing win over the young Waveriders.

Ferreira scored 16 points, and Pacheco added 10 in the first half to fuel the charge as Waiakea grabbed a 33-2 advantage at the end of the first quarter and led 58-6 at the intermission.

Warriors coach Grant Kauhi then played his subs most of the second half.

Ferreira led the Warriors with her game-high 16 points, including three treys. Junior power forward Daven Namohala-Roloos had 11 points, while Pacheco and junior Sky Kela each added 10 points.

The Warriors also got solid play from freshman point guard Kaydee Rapoza, junior Keani Shirai and senior Taesha Aina in the second half as Kauhi rested his starters.

Junior Nathalie-Rose Jordan led Kealakehe with three points, draining a 3-pointer in the third period.

The Waveriders, West Hawaii’s No. 2 seed, finished their season with a 2-9 record.

Kealakehe 2 4 5 0 — 11

Waiakea 33 25 2 6 — 66