By BILL O’REAR Tribune-Herald sports editor ADVERTISING Kamehameha’s tenacious full court press is like an onion — when it’s working well, it can bring tears to opponents’ eyes. But if you can weather the storm and peel away some of
By BILL O’REAR
Tribune-Herald sports editor
Kamehameha’s tenacious full court press is like an onion — when it’s working well, it can bring tears to opponents’ eyes. But if you can weather the storm and peel away some of the pressure, you can score against it.
And that’s exactly what happened on Tuesday night when the visiting Warriors fought past Hilo 62-48 in a high-paced Big Island Interscholastic Federation girls basketball game at Hilo Armory.
The Division II Warriors (6-2) clamped on their press in the first period and jumped to a 16-3 as the young Vikings (4-4) struggled against the pressure. The visitors led 19-5 at the end of the quarter and it appeared it might be a long evening for Hilo coach Ben Pana and his players.
But the gritty Vikings regained their composure and made a run at Kamehameha in the second period, closing to within 28-21 before the Warriors drained three straight 3-pointers — two by rock-solid senior Chelsea Poe and one from senior Bobbi Montibon — and carried a 37-21 lead into the intermission.
“Kamehameha is long and athletic,” Pana said after the game with no trace of tears and only a big smile. “But I reminded our girls to do just what we’ve been working on in practice and we started to get some easy baskets against their press.
“Kamehameha is a very good team, but people don’t realize how young we are — we don’t have any seniors this year — and we’re going to only get better. We’re going to make some mistakes but hopefully we’re going to learn from them.”
The Warriors, under coach Garrett Arima, outscored the D-I Vikings 14-9 in the third quarter before the hosts held an 18-11 advantage over the final eight minutes.
“We did some really good things,” Arima said. “We made some open perimeter shots tonight, and that’s one area we need to keep working on. When our girls get open and are in balance, we want them to shoot those shots.
“Tonight we did that and knocked down some treys.”
Poe, a high basketball IQ point guard, scored a game-high 18 points to lead Kamehameha. But she also turned in a terrific all-around floor game and orchestrated the Warriors’ potent transition attack.
“Chelsea did a really good job,” Arima said. “She showed a lot of composure and played with a lot of confidence. She ran the offense and hit her shots when they opened up. We need that kind of effort from her and we need our other girls to contribute in whatever way they can — whether it’s on the press, playing tough halfcourt defense, rebounding or taking good shots.”
Casey Poe, a talented sophomore and Chelsea’s sister, and steady senior Shaylyn Kahawai each had 10 points. Junior Namele Naipo-Arsiga followed with nine points and promising freshman guard Rianna Arima had six points and three assists.
Kahawai also teamed with the Poe sisters, sophomore Shaila Apele and Naipo-Arsiga to help the visitors control the backboards.
Sophomore Aliyah Pana and freshman forward Raevyn Kaupu each scored 11 points to lead Hilo. The Vikings also got solid play from sophomore guard Amber Vaughn (7 points) and junior Briahna Brooks (7 points). Pana and Vaughn were keys to helping Hilo handle the press much better in the finally three periods.
JV: Hilo 58, Kamehameha 24. Kamehameha: Makamae Gabriel, 12. Hilo: Kayla Okimoto, 24 (4 treys); Kanoe Brickwood, 18.
Kamehameha 19 18 14 11 — 62
Hilo 5 16 9 18 — 48
* Konawaena 75, Kealakehe 2: At Kealakehe, junior Melissa Simon scored 16 points, senior Lia Galdeira 15, junior Hoku Liftee 14 and senior Makayla Awa 12 to lead the unbeaten D-I Wildcats (7-0).
The D-I Waveriders dipped to 2-6.
JV: Konawaena 52, Kealakehe 19.
Konawaena 26 18 19 12 — 75
Kealakehe 0 1 0 1 — 2
* Waiakea 64, Pahoa 19: At Pahoa, Alyssa Ferreira scored 16 points and Ciera Pacheco 14 to lead the unbeaten D-I Warriors (8-0).
Randi Berinobis scored eight points for the D-II Daggers (1-7).
Waiakea 32 14 14 4 — 64
Pahoa 1 7 2 9 — 19
* Ka’u 42, Keaau 39: At Pahala, Taylor Pocock scored nine points and Joyce Ibasan, Janessa Jara and Shaylin Navarro eight apiece for the D-II Trojans (3-5).
Maedina Ongais-Kilaulani scored 25 points and Jacy Pagala 11 to lead the D-I Cougars (2-6).
JV: Ka’u 45, Keaau 25. Ka’u: Denisha Navarro, 27. Keaau: Melisa Powless, 11.
Keaau 12 12 12 3 — 39
Ka’u 8 8 9 17 — 42
