Of the 156 games played during BIIF boys basketball regular season, arguably no triumph was more impressive than Konawaena’s 62-41 home victory against Kamehameha on Jan. 20.
Of the 156 games played during BIIF boys basketball regular season, arguably no triumph was more impressive than Konawaena’s 62-41 home victory against Kamehameha on Jan. 20.
“That was the first game where we really put it all together,” Wildcats coach Donny Awa said. “Kamehameha was as good as any team we’ve seen all season.”
Seeking their fourth consecutive BIIF Division I championship, Konawaena (11-1) takes on the Warriors (9-3) in the 7 p.m. nightcap at 7 p.m. Friday in the semifinals at Hilo Civic.
Kamehameha beat the Wildcats in the championship game of the Cardinal Classic behind Bayley Manliguis’ 26 points, but Konawaena has won 10 in a row since a loss at Waiakea.
“We’re a different team that we were in the preseason,” Awa said.
Asked if Konawaena reminds him of any of his previous squads, Awa mentioned two of his BIIF championship teams.
The Wildcats will take a bit of hit this time without the services of forward Ryan Malone, who is nursing an injury. Malone led the way with 13 points during the regular season victory against the Warriors, and the Wildcats used man-to-man defense to help slow down Manliguis, primarily guarding him with Hauoli Akau.
Even without Malone, Konawaena features depth inside with players such as Paka Cacoulidis and Kamakana Ching.
“My worry against Kamehameha would be if we’re not shooting,” Awa said. “Our defense is consistent, but if we’re not hitting shots they pack that zone in tight.”
The other D-I semifinal, at 5:30 p.m. matches undefeated Waiakea (12-0) and Hilo (6-6). The Warriors embarrassed their rival 73-32 on Jan. 16. Waiakea already owns the automatic HHSAA berth and is chasing its first BIIF title since 2009.
Of the eight teams playing Friday, Honokaa owns the longest title drought, having not won BIIFs since 2001. The Dragons (8-4) ended a nine-year state drought last Thursday by grinding out a 33-30 victory at Pahoa (5-7) to wrap up the outright regular season title in Division II.
Those two teams open the semifinals at 2:30 p.m. coming off a low-scoring game that was atypical for Honokaa, which usually scores like nobody’s business and but is charitably defensively.
“You said we couldn’t play defense, but that’s what we did,” Honokaa Jayme Carvalho told the Tribune-Herald. “There were some possessions where (Pahoa) had the ball for 2, 2 1/2 minutes and didn’t do anything.”
The Division II field is marked by parity. If the Daggers would have won their regular season finale at Hawaii Prep, it would have forced a three-would tie for second at 6-6. As it was, Jonas Skupeika hit a buzzer-beater and Ka Makani (7-5) won for only the third time in eight games. One of those victories came against St. Joseph (6-6), HPA’s opponent in the second semifinal at 4 p.m.
In a sense, Honokaa is playing with house money, having already reached states.
“I told the kids to cherish it,” Carvalho said. “You only get a chance to play so many high school games, so to earn a chance to play at least two more is quite an accomplishment.”