KEAAU – It was 32 minutes of time well spent for Keaau coach girls basketball coach Shawn Fuiava.
The Cougars spent more four quarters climbing the learning curve, showing just enough poise to pull through in the end.
Dabbling much more in the latter than the former, sophomore Anela Gonzalez-Tremaine had a lot to do with the positive result, scoring 17 points to power Keaau to a 41-37 victory against Hawaii Prep, lifting the Cougs to 2-0 in BIIF play.
“The learning experience of them not folding at the end,” Fuiava said of his biggest takeaway. “They’re new to the game. That pressure at the end. We’re leading the whole game, and they catch up. Young kids didn’t fold.
“Games like this, it has to be a must-win thing, but it has to be a learning thing.”
Gonzalez-Tremaine capped a fine shooting night with a three-point play that appeared to finally put Keaau in the clear, but Ka Makani (0-2) made one final charge, with Maja Burdova’s 3-pointer bringing HPA to within 38-37 with under 2 minutes to play.
Gonzalez-Tremaine and Kaila Vallente (six points) came up with late-game steals, and Keaau salted the game away at the line.
“We’re using Anela everywhere,” Fuiava said. “I still stand by the fact, Anela is probably the best all-around player on the island.
“She can beat you inside and outside.”
It’s somewhat of a Keaau curse in that promising Cougars players in a variety of sports sometimes choose to transfer elsewhere.
In this case, Destany Williams, Gonzalez-Tremaine’s fellow freshman building block last season, now plays at Waiakea.
“I can take pride in the fact that there is still a connection,” Fuiava said. “Kids leave, but they still call us because there is a Keaau connection.”
So Keaau will keep on building, though there are pieces to work with.
Freshman Kiare Kepano had a poor shooting night but was fearless in attacking the rim and can help Gonzalez with ball-handling duties, freshmen Hannah Schmaltz and sophomore Jamie Fernandez (five points) offer a shooter’s touch and sophomore Chaelyn Aki (five points) brings length in the post. The senior contributors are Jewel Solmerin and Britney Calhoun
“I’ve got 12 girls, maybe two to three seniors,” Fuiava said. “Patience is the policy.”
Burdova and Kyana Brucelas each scored nine points to lead HPA, and Mariah Borce added eight.
Gonzalez-Tremaine went coast-to-coast for a layup and made another basket as Keaau took a 32-23 lead into the fourth quarter, but Brucelas’ basket gave HPA a 7-0 run to cut into most of the lead.
That’s when Schmaltz – who made five 3s on Wednesday in a win against Kohala – picked a good time for her only 3 of this game, and Gonzalez went to work in the post for an old-fashioned three-point play for a 38-30 lead.
Best of all for Fuiava, Keaau never panicked when HPA scored the next seven points.
“We’re going to do really good stuff,” he said. “I’m not going to say just this year, but for years to come. It’s exciting.”
Konawaena 56, Kohala 7: Caiyle Kaupu scored 20 points in Kaapau and Kailana Salazar-Harrell added 17 as the Wildcats (2-0) rolled to their 119th league win in a row.
Jasmine Hook scored four points for the Cowgirls (0-2), who trailed 41-2 at the half.
Konawaena won the JV contest 57-14.
