From the opening tip, it was just too much Konawaena. Too strong, too stout.
Waiakea trailed by 18 points after the first quarter and ran out of time in a wild comeback that fell short.
The Wildcats defeated the Warriors 57-48 to win the BIIF girls basketball championship on Wednesday night at Hilo Civic to remain unbeaten.
BIIF runner-up Waiakea (7-3) will next host a first-round Division I state tournament game on Monday, Feb. 14 at the Warriors gym.
Konawaena (9-0) will play in the state quarterfinals on Thursday, Nov. 17 on Oahu. It won its 12th BIIF title in 13 tries.
Kaliana Salazar-Harrell scored 27 points on 9 of 11 shooting, including 2 of 2 from 3-point range, and Braelyn Kauhi added 12 points on 4 of 9 shooting for the Wildcats, who shot 53%, including 4 of 13 from long distance and sank 15 of 25 free throws.
“We’re always creating new memories,” Salazar-Harrell said.
Jolie Mantz scored 22 points on 5 of 11 shooting and buried 10 for 14 free throws, and Avery Snyder added seven points for the Warriors, who shot 45%, including 3 of 10 from 3-point territory and sank 19 of 31 free throws.
Kona opened with one of its bread-and-butter plays: Salazar-Harrell ran to the left corner, and circled back to the top the key, where she bounced off a screen and sank an open 3-pointer.
Salazar-Harrell torched Waiakea’s man defense for 22 points in the first half. The senior guard hit 8 of 10 shots, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, against a rotation of Kiare Kepano, Tayshia Rocha, and Maya Kaneshiro.
The problem focusing too much defensive attention on Salazar-Harrell is that the Wildcats are really good at ball-sharing. They had nine assists and 13 turnovers.
The Warriors struggled against Kona’s ball pressure and finished with three assists and 15 turnovers.
Sanoe Kihe was a valuable inside presence for the Wildcats with nine points, most on putbacks.
Kona bolted to a 20-0 cushion before Waiakea got on the scoreboard. Snyder was fouled and sank 1 of 2 free throws to trim the lead to 20-1 with 2:09 left.
The Warriors closed the first quarter on a 4-3 run to trail 23-5 after the first period.
The pace slowed down in the second quarter. Waiakea outscored Kona, 9-8.
In the third quarter, the Warriors came out of the locker room with more confidence and drained three 3-pointers, the last by Korri Fernandez to cut the lead to 38-25 with under four minutes.
Mantz blazed through the teeth of Kona’s defense for a layup to get Waiakea within 40-30 with under 30 seconds left to head to a tense final eight minutes.
In the fourth quarter, Mantz hit both ends of a 1 and 1 to chop Kona’s lead to 45-37 with 5:20 remaining. That was the closest the Warriors would get.
With under two minutes left, the Wildcats did their Shaq impression and sank 5 of 10 free throws to close the game.
The BIIF had very careful COVID19 safety protocols, reminding the crowd upon the third warning a fan faces ejection for not wearing a mask above their noses.
