Not so long ago, Waiakea was often second best, a good place to be as Konawaena continues its girls basketball dynasty. ADVERTISING Not so long ago, Waiakea was often second best, a good place to be as Konawaena continues its
Not so long ago, Waiakea was often second best, a good place to be as Konawaena continues its girls basketball dynasty.
However, Hilo has recently filled that role, tagging along with the Wildcats to the HHSAA Division I state tournament as the BIIF runner-up the last three years.
It’s very, very unlikely anyone will unseat Kona, the defending seven-time BIIF champion, at the height of its power with seniors Chanelle Molina and Ihi Victor leading the charge for a second consecutive state title.
With Honokaa, the two-time state Division II champion, jumping up to Division I, there’s now more competition, including Keaau and Kealakehe, in the musical chairs race for the league’s second spot to the state tournament.
The key is to not be the No. 4 seed in the four-team BIIF playoffs and face likely No. 1 Kona. The BIIF regular-season champion also earns the league’s first state berth.
The Warriors claimed the No. 3 seed the last two years, but couldn’t take down the No. 2 Vikings, falling in the BIIF semifinals 53-22 last season and 59-42 in 2014. Waiakea lost to Kona in the BIIF semis 41-31 in 2013, when there was an East-West format.
Waiakea will get a good idea of its place in the pecking order with its Winter Goodwill Tournament, which runs Thursday through Saturday and includes Hilo, Honokaa and Kamehameha, the only Division II team.
“It’s a good field, and we wanted to match ourselves up and see where we stand,” Waiakea second-year coach Kevin Iwata said. “We’ve got a nice nucleus of returnees with four starters back. The girl are working on defense and trusting each other. There’s better team chemistry and it helps.”
The key returnees are 5-foot-5 senior forward Elyse Hasegawa, and 5-5 junior guards Kryssie Okinaka and Danielle Oda, each an All-BIIF honorable mention pick last season. All three are co-captains.
The other starter back is 5-7 forward Sydney Layaoen. Two freshmen, 5-8 forward Madison Hwang and 5-3 guard Claire Kaneshiro, will see significant time.
Also, 5-7 senior Brianna Ridgway, a volleyball import, is playing hoops for the first time and could help in the rebounding department.
“Elyse gives everything she’s got every night. She’s undersized but plays like she’s 5-10. She’s got the mentality of a big,” Iwata said. “Danielle is a good spot-up shooter. She’s really great at rebounding for her size. She understands the offense and tries to get everyone involved. Kryssie’s my slasher. Out of the three, she’s the most athletic and fastest.
“Sydney is kind of long and she’s a really good defender. She’s easy to coach and just works hard. She’s good in that aspect. The two freshmen have a lot of poise and have been playing youth basketball for a few years. Brianna gives us height and athleticism. Hopefully, she’ll be one of the people helping us as far as rebounding and playing down low.”
Waiakea’s offense is based on spacing and cutting to find open looks for shooters. Ball movement is always better when there’s a bunch of players familiar with the system. Shooting is a technical skill that always improves with repetition.
However, it’s on the defensive end where the Warriors are really putting in work. If there’s one aspect that needs sharpening, it’s transition defense or, basically, hustling back on D.
What’s the bread-and-butter strength and common denominator among Konawaena, Hilo and Honokaa?
That’s an easy answer: athleticism.
Each title contender can pressure the ball, get a turnover and layup for easy points, especially with floor runners like Kona’s Chanelle Molina, Hilo’s Lexi Pana and Honokaa’s Kizzah Maltezo.
When the postseason comes around, teams tighten their possession counts. In half-court sets, the momentum swings usually make an appearance when someone rebounds a miss, and fires an outlet to a floor runner for an easy layup.
Waiakea has been on the wrong end of those plays for the last three years.
“The key is teamwork. We have to play with each other,” Iwata said. “Defensively, we have to play a lot better than last year. We’ve been working hard on our transition and half-court defense every day. Last year, we played a lot of zone. We’ve got a lot of athletes where we can play man, create havoc and get turnovers.”
A zone defense is a great way to protect the rim and snag rebounds, eliminating the other way to get easy points with putbacks.
However, the problem with zone is the athletic teams with rim attackers and sharp shooters find soft spots and mismatches, or have an effective foul-tagging post offense. Those teams are nicknamed the Wildcats, Vikings and Dragons.
