WILDCATS FINISH OFF FOURTH STRAIGHT BIIF TITLE ADVERTISING BY BILL O’REAR | STEPHENS MEDIA HILO — State powerhouse Konawaena capped a brilliant four-year unbeaten streak on the Big Island on Saturday night, beating Waiakea 47-30 to capture the Big Island
WILDCATS FINISH OFF FOURTH STRAIGHT BIIF TITLE
BY BILL O’REAR | STEPHENS MEDIA
HILO — State powerhouse Konawaena capped a brilliant four-year unbeaten streak on the Big Island on Saturday night, beating Waiakea 47-30 to capture the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division II girls basketball championship.
The outcome wasn’t decided until the second half when Konawaena rallied from a 19-18 halftime deficit to pull away by outscoring the Warriors 29-11 over the final two quarters at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
“Waiakea did a great job, especially in the first half,” Konawaena coach Bobbie Awa said. “They played a box-and-one on Lia (Galdeira), and we couldn’t make an outside shot. It also didn’t help that Dawnyelle (Awa) got into early foul trouble.
“But we had a nice talk at halftime. We told the girls to attack the basket more since the referees were calling a lot of fouls. We also made some defensive adjustments and started to post up Lia.”
The strategy worked, as the Wildcats outscored the Warriors 18-7 in the third period, grabbing a 36-26 lead on Dawnyelle Awa’s follow-up shot at the buzzer.
Galdeira and Awa, the sensational four-year starters for the Wildcats, then each hit a basket to open the fourth quarter, stretching the visitors’ cushion to 40-26 with 7:10 remaining.
Galdeira, a 5-foot-9 guard, scored a game-high 21 points, including 12 in the first half when Waiakea seemed primed for an upset. The Warriors led 13-5 at the end of the first period before Konawaena rode Galdeira’s scoring to close to within a point, 19-18, at the half.
Junior Courtney Kaupu followed Galdeira with nine points. Awa had eight and a solid floor game, while junior guard Hoku Liftee had seven points.
Senior guard Ciera Pacheco led the Warriors with 11 points. Senior Alyssa Ferreira and junior Daven Namohala-Roloos each had six points, and junior Sefulu Faavae five.
In winning the tournament, the Bobbie Awa-coached Wildcats also claimed their fourth straight league title. With all-state players Galdeira and Dawnyelle Awa leading the on-court charge, they finished with an unbeaten 48-0 BIIF record in four years.
“It feels great to win it four straight years,” Dawnyelle Awa said after the game when the Wildcats were awarded their BIIF championship medals and cut down one of the Civic’s nets. At the other end of the court, Division II champion Kamehameha did the same ritual.
The point guard, along with Galdeira, will attend Washington State on a basketball scholarship next year.
Konawaena 5 13 18 11 — 47
Waiakea 13 6 7 4 — 30
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