Email Tribune-Herald sports editor Bill O’Rear at borear@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
By BILL O’REAR
Tribune-Herald sports editor
State powerhouse Konawaena capped a brilliant four-year unbeaten streak on the Big Isle on Saturday night, beating gutsy Waiakea 47-30 to capture the Big Island Interscholastic Federation girls Division II basketball championship.
About 2,000 fans watched the hard-fought final at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. But the outcome wasn’t decided until the second half when Konawaena rallied from a 19-18 halftime deficit to pull away by outscoring the Warriors 29-11 over the final two quarters.
“Waiakea did a great job, especially in the first half,” Konawaena coach Bobbie Awa said. “They played a box-and-one on Lia (Galdeira) and we couldn’t make an outside shot. It also didn’t help that Dawnyelle (Awa) got into early foul trouble.
“But we had a nice talk at halftime. We told the girls to attack the basket more since the referees were calling a lot of fouls. We also made some defensive adjustments and started to post up Lia.”
The strategy worked as the Wildcats outscored the Warriors 18-7 in the third period, grabbing a 36-26 lead on Dawnyelle Awa’s follow-up shot at the buzzer.
Galdeira and Awa, the sensational four-year starters for the Wildcats, then each hit a basket to open the fourth quarter, stretching the visitors’ cushion to 40-26 with 7:10 remaining in the high-intensity contest.
Konawaena then spread the floor on offense and worked time off the clock on each possession unless a wide-open layup was available. The Wildcats outpointed Waiakea 7-4 in the last 5:57 to seal the milestone victory.
“Once we got the good lead, we were able to close it out,” Bobbie Awa said. “It’s a good win, and we had other players step up tonight. But it’s just another step in our ultimate goal, which is to win the state championship.”
Galdeira, a 5-foot-9 guard, scored a game-high 21 points, including 12 in the first half when Waiakea seemed primed for an upset. The Warriors led 13-5 at the end of the first period before Konawaena rode Galdeira’s scoring to close to within a point, 19-18, at the half.
But once the Wildcats made their halftime adjustments, they took their game to a higher level and the big-hearted Warriors couldn’t contain them in the second half.
“In the first half, we matched them intensity for intensity,” Waiakea coach Grant Kauhi said. “But we couldn’t match their intensity in the second half. They just wanted it a little more than we did.”
Galdeira scored nine points and Awa eight in the second half to fuel the offense. But it was Konawaena’s halfcourt defense that shutdown the dribble penetration and gave the Warriors few open looks.
Junior Courtney Kaupu followed Galdeira with nine points. Awa had eight and a solid floor game while junior guard Hoku Liftee had seven points. Senior guard Ciera Pacheco led the Warriors with 11 points. Senior Alyssa Ferreira and junior Daven Namohala-Roloos each had six points and junior Sefulu Faavae five.
In winning the tournament, the Bobbie Awa-coached Wildcats also claimed their fourth straight league title and with all-state players Galdeira and Dawnyelle Awa leading the on-court charge, they finished with an unbeaten 48-0 BIIF record in four years.
“It feels great to win it four straight years,” Dawnyelle Awa said after the game when the Wildcats were awarded their BIIF championship medals and cut down one of the Civic’s nets. At the other end of the court, D-II champion Kamehameha did the same ritual.
The talented point guard, who along with Galdeira will attend Washington State on a basketball scholarship next year, said her fourth BIIF title was hard earned.
“The last two games, we depended on Lia too much,” Awa said. “Tonight, we had other players who stepped up and helped.”
Now with the state tournament at hand, the young Awa said: “We’re going to take it one game at a time.”
During the past four years, Konawaena is 107-8 overall with only one loss coming against a Hawaii school — to Lahainaluna in the state D-I finals two years ago. The other losses came at the hands of mainland teams. In the meantime, the Wildcats have pocketed two of the last three state D-I crowns and are heavy favorites to make it three out of four this week on Oahu.
State seedings
BIIF champion Konawaena (12-0) and runner-up Waiakea (11-1) will represent the league in this week’s 12-team state D-I tournament, which runs Tuesday through Friday. The state seedings were released Saturday night and the Wildcats are seeded No. 1. The top four seeds — No. 1 Konawaena, No. 2 Iolani, No. 3 Lahainaluna and No. 4 Pearl City — draw first-round byes.
BIIF runner-up Waiakea will play Roosevelt at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Moanalua High gym. Konawaena takes on Tuesday’s Maui/Kaiser winner at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the McKinley High gym.
Note: The last time Konawaena lost a BIIF game came against Waiakea, 65-48, in the league final of the 2007-08 season. The BIIF champion Warriors, led by senior Kira DeMorales and junior Kamie Imai, and runner-up Wildcats then went on to play in the state tournament.
BIIF champion Wildcats
Bobbie Awa is assisted by Donny Awa, Jessica Hanato, Shane Heineke, Tory Guillermo and Liana Hanato-Smith.
The players on the championship squad are seniors Dawnyelle Awa, Lia Galdeira, Makayla Awa, Amanda Varron and Lita Taumoefolau, juniors Hoku Liftee, Taylor Awa, Courtney Kaupu, Melissa Simon and Katie Andrade; and sophomores Zoe Acdal and Makani Wall.
Konawaena 5 13 18 11 — 47
Waiakea 13 6 7 4 — 30
Email Tribune-Herald sports editor Bill O’Rear at borear@hawaiitribune-herald.com.