The Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i girls basketball team closed out its regular season by claiming yet another high-ranked victim, edging Waiakea High 49-48 on Thursday night in Hilo.
The victory finished the Warriors’ regular season at 12-0 in BIIF play, and it was their second win over a top-ten ranked DI team since defeating Konawaena High in December.
This week’s ScoringLive power rankings placed Waiakea at No. 4 in the state — with Konawaena at No. 3 and KS-Hawai‘i at No. 9.
“If we didn’t already have a target on our back, we have a bigger target on our back now,” KSH head coach Donald Yamada said. “It was a great win for the girls, for the program. When we beat (Konawaena), regardless of how we did it, we had our eyes on something that (the KS-Hawai‘i) girls program hasn’t done, which is go undefeated. So, last night was a big game for us, regardless of if it was Waiakea.
“Going into playoffs — whoever’s in front of us is how we’re gonna take it. Going into states, same thing — whoever it is, we’re gonna take them on.”
Early in the matchup, Waiakea had the upper hand. WHS closed out the first quarter with a slim, 11-10 lead — but led by as much as eight points for a moment midway through the frame. Both teams did a thorough job of stopping each other inside the arc, as KSH was held to just three field goals and WHS sank two.
Waiakea’s lead was boosted by a couple of three-pointers, with KSH trailing close behind thanks to Keanu Huihui’s free throw prowess — as she sank four of four attempts during the opening frame.
The second quarter yielded even less buckets, as Waiakea scored nine points on three FG’s and a three-pointer while KSH’s eight points came from two FG’s and four free throws. WHS entered halftime ahead by 20-18.
The flood gates opened in the third quarter, and KSH took the lead — led by Maela Honma, who put up eight points on four baskets during the frame. While KSH’s third quarter scoring was distributed fairly evenly between its starters, all but five of Waiakea’s 14 points came from Pua‘ena Herrington. KSH outscored Waiakea 18-14 to enter the final frame ahead by 36-34.
“The third quarter was a big boost for us,” Yamada said. “We really didn’t make too many adjustments. Defensively, I stood strong with our 1:2:2, just making sure that we got to those blocks. Offensively, we just tried to take it away from them — come back to the middle so that our bigs could still get to the basket.”
“We didn’t settle. We got the shots and went for the shots that we intended to get.”
Due to scant success inside the arc through much of the game, Waiakea looked outside the arc, and found success from downtown — sinking four three-pointers during the final frame to outscore KSH 14-13. However, rebounding and free throw shooting during the fourth quarter proved to be deciding factors in the outcome.
KSH went three-for-six from the charity stripe during the fourth quarter while WHS went zero-for-four.
“We got them into foul trouble,” Yamada said. “Our rebounding kinda kicked into a better gear in the third and fourth quarters — and we eliminated a lot of the free rebounds that they were getting in the first half. In the fourth quarter (Huihui) and (Honma) just attacked that basket, and we even had Kacie (Febo-Santiago) to attack that basket, knowing that they were close to that foul trouble.”
Herrington led Waiakea with a game high 21 points. Jolie Mantz scored ten points for WHS and Hannah Iwahiro scored nine.
Huihui led KSH with 20 points and went 10-for-12 at the free throw line. Honma notched 16 points and Baeleigh Lukzen scored eight.
Ending its regular season at 10-2, Waiakea will look to rebound from the loss by succeeding in the upcoming Central Pacific Bank/BIIF Division I playoffs, which begin Monday. Waiakea received the No. 2 seed — behind No. 1 Konawaena High (11-1) — and will host its semifinal game, likely against Hilo High.
KSH secured the No. 1 seed in Division II weeks ago, and will host its semifinal matchup on Monday against Honoka‘a High.
KEA‘AU 55 – CLA 21
Kea‘au High’s girls varsity basketball team ended its season on a high note, routing Christian Liberty Academy 55-21 on Thursday night at home.
The Cougars were led by the scoring of Lenzy Adlawan, who put up 21 points. Lauren Johnson led the Canefire with six points.
Now 3-8, Kea‘au will enter the CPB/BIIF DI playoffs in the No. 4 seed — and will be matched up with No. 1 Konawaena in Monday’s semifinal round. The Wildcats routed the Cougars 80-11 in their last encounter in December.
CLA fell to 0-10, and will not qualify for the BIIF DII playoffs.
HONOKAA 64 – KA‘U 21
Honoka‘a High’s Rylee Velasquez scored a season-high 38 points, leading the Dragons to a 64-21 win over Ka‘u High on Thursday in Hamakua.
Telia Iaeli scored 15 points for the Dragons — and the Trojans were led by Tyra Wong Yuen, who scored ten points.
Now 7-5 and done with regular season play, Honoka‘a will enter the BIIF DII playoff semifinals on Monday in the No. 4 seed and will face off against KS-Hawai‘i. Honoka‘a fell 61-25 to the Warriors last week.
Ka‘u ended its season at 2-10 and in the No. 7 standing of BIIF DII’s eight teams. The Trojans’ two wins were against CLA and Kealakehe.
HPA 53 – KEALAKEHE 45
Hawaii Prep boys basketball beat Kealakehe 53-45 Thursday night in the Waveriders’ gymnasium — collecting its sixth win of the season to reach .500 in the BIIF.
Ka Makani’s size and aggression in the paint proved to be too much for the smaller Waveriders, who had to rely on their jump-shooting all game.
West Hawaii Today and Hawaii Tribune-Herald were unable to find the top scorers from each school by Friday afternoon, Jan. 26.
HPA (6-6) will next play defending state champion Kohala at 7 p.m. Thursday in Kamehameha Park Gymnasium in Ka Makani’s final game of the regular season. Kealakehe (3-9) will host the Cowboys at 7 p.m. Tuesday on its home court to conclude the year.