KAILUA-KONA — With the Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) winter season ending soon, teams across the island are pushing to end the regular-season slate on a high note before island playoffs begin — and Thursday was no exception.
GIRLS: PAHOA 41 – KA‘U 37
Pahoa High’s girls basketball team outlasted Ka‘u High, winning 41-37 on Thursday night in Puna.
This marked the Daggers’ third straight win. All three of those wins have been against neighbor schools, as Pahoa downed Christian Liberty Academy and Kea‘au High last week.
Pahoa was led by Jaylynn Kaawaloa-Alidon and Remedy Gonzalez, each scoring 13 points.
The Trojans’ Tyra Wong-Yuen scored a game high 16 points — and was trailed by teammate Shaylie Martinez with eight points.
The Daggers inched closer to .500 at 5-6, closer to BIIF Div.-II playoff territory — the division’s No. 5 standing. Pahoa has three remaining regular season matchups on its slate — Parker School, KS-Hawai‘i and Kealakehe High. If the Daggers win at least two of those games and higher-standing teams suffer losses, Pahoa could enter playoff contention — which would be a remarkable turnaround when considering the team’s 0-4 start.
The late season has been not as fortuitous for Ka‘u, which fell to 2-7 in its fourth straight loss.
The Trojans’ senior night was played Saturday against Hilo High (results will be published later).
Ka‘u will end its season Jan. 25 on the road at Honoka‘a High.
BOYS: HPA 59 – KA‘U 46
In Ka‘u High’s second misfortune of the night, the Trojans’ boys varsity basketball team suffered a 59-46 loss at the hands of Hawaii Prep on Thursday in Waimea.
The game was neck-and-neck through the first half, as the pair was tied 10-10 entering the second quarter. By halftime, the Trojans obtained a sliver of a lead — 25-24.
Things came together for Ka Makani and fell apart for Ka‘u in the third quarter, as HPA outscored the Trojans by a whopping 19-8. Ka Makani kept ahead and sealed the deal, outscoring Ka‘u 16-13 in the final frame.
Tyson “TJ” Kuahia Faafia led the Trojans with a game high 21 points. HPA was led by the trio of Ian Caldwell (13 pts.), Micah Yamasaki (12 pts.) and Max Heilmann (11 pts.).
This was Ka‘u’s sixth straight loss, dropping its record to 1-8. After senior night on Saturday against Kealakehe High (results will be published later), the Trojans will face Kohala High on Jan. 27, and finish of their season Feb. 1 in Hilo against St. Joseph School (0-9).
The win was a bright note in what has otherwise been a subpar season for HPA, which moved to 3-5. After playing away Saturday at Kea‘au High (results published later), Ka Makani will play its senior night on Tuesday night against Konawaena High.
JV score: Ka‘u wins 48-43. Top scorers: Ka‘u’s Loaa Kaupu (12 pts.) and HPA’s Charlie Chen (13 pts.).
GIRLS: HPA 51 – HILO 28
BIIF top scorer Brooke Samura dropped 40 points during the Hawaii Prep girls basketball team’s 51-28 rout of Hilo High on Thursday night on the Vikings’ home court.
Ka Makani set the tone early, dominating Hilo in the first quarter to take a 14-4 lead.
However, the Vikings saw a spark in their offense during the second quarter, outscoring HPA 15-13 to cut their deficit to eight points.
But that spark was lost again in the second half as Ka Makani came out of halftime swinging — outscoring Hilo 10-6 in the third quarter and 14-3 in the fourth.
Samura has averaged a whopping 36.1 points per game this season, and has crested the 40-point mark in three of HPA’s last four outings. She has scored 325 points total in BIIF play, scoring a season high 44 points against Parker School last week. Samura has shot 77.8 percent at the free throw line, recording a season best nine-for-nine in December during a game against Waiakea High.
Ka Makani is now 6-3 in BIIF play, and will rival Kohala High (7-3) for the No. 2 standing in BIIF DII — behind No. 1 KS-Hawai‘i (11-0).
After facing Honoka‘a Saturday on the road (results published later), HPA will end its season on Jan. 26 at home with a decisive matchup against Kohala.
Hilo fell to 3-7. The Vikings will wrap the season up Wednesday on the road at Konawaena High.
At No. 3 in BIIF DI, Hilo could have a shot at the BIIF semifinals — but, it will likely face one of the isle’s two juggernauts, Konawaena and Waiakea, both of which are ranked among the top five in the state by ScoringLive this week.
GIRLS: WAIAKEA 82 – CLA 8
Waiakea High’s girls varsity basketball team demolished Christian Liberty Academy 82-8 to tip off a doubleheader on Thursday night in Kea‘au.
Pua‘ena Herrington led the way for the Warriors with 22 points, trailed by teammate Jolie Mantz with 15 points. Herrington and Mantz have been a powerful pairing for Waiakea this season, as Mantz has averaged 18.8 points per game and Herrington 17.2.
The Warriors’ next and final regular season outing will be a low-staked clashing of the leeward side’s top two teams — as Waiakea faces undefeated DII titan KS-Hawai‘i (11-0 BIIF) on Jan. 25 at WHS.
KSH turned heads when it defeated Konawaena in mid-December. The Wildcats were previously undefeated and are ranked No. 4 in the state, per ScoringLive. Konawaena is also the only team to defeat Waiakea this season.
At 0-9 and in the cellar of the BIIF standings, the Canefire has just three more chances to get a win. CLA will host HPA on Monday, play across Kea‘au village on Thursday (Jan. 25) at Kea‘au HS and end the season Saturday (Jan. 27) at home against Parker School.
BOYS: WAIAKEA 71 – CLA 48
Waiakea High’s boys varsity basketball team turned the doubleheader into a sweep, routing CLA 71-48 on Thursday at CLA.
Despite the loss, the Canefire put up its highest score on the season — and CLA leading scorer Jeziah Mahaulu put up a season high 24 points. Jermaine Cline also scored 14 points for the Canefire.
Waiakea was led by Josiah Amuimuia with 18 points.
Now 5-4, Waiakea will look to hang onto its No. 4 BIIF DI standing in order to stay in the playoff hunt as the season concludes. Three outings remain for the Warriors, two of which will be tough tests.
Waiakea will travel north on Tuesday to play against Kohala High (6-0) in Kapa‘au. The Warriors will play their senior night Jan. 26 against St. Joseph (0-8), then end their season across the district line at Pahoa High (6-2).
Now 0-6, CLA’s best chance at a win will be Monday — when the Canefire hosts St. Jo. One of the winless teams will emerge from Monday night in the win column, and the other will almost certainly end the season in the bottom BIIF standing.
KONA 2 – KEALAKEHE 0
In a crosstown matchup between Kona’s biggest schools, Konawaena girls soccer shut out Kealakehe 2-0 on Thursday afternoon at Julian R. Yates Field.
Wildcats senior forward Uhiwai Wall scored the first goal of the afternoon, while sophomore midfielder Tia Ichishita secured the second.
Now at 3-6-1 with one match remaining in the regular season, Kona will face Kea‘au at 2 p.m. today on the road. On the Waveriders’ (3-6-1) side, the blue and white have no further scheduled matches as of Friday afternoon, Jan. 19.