With a week remaining in the regular season, schools from across the island continued a strong push in Tuesday’s Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) boys basketball and soccer games. As of Wednesday afternoon, Hilo basketball leads Division I at 9-1, while Kohala remains in DII’s driver’s seat at 8-0. Over in soccer, Kealakehe boys lead DI at 7-1-0 (21 points) while KS-Hawai‘i is in first in DII at 9-0-0 (27 points).
The final slate of regular season boys basketball games will be Feb. 1, with BIIF playoffs beginning the following day. The Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) tournament will begin Feb. 12 on Oahu.
In boys soccer, conference playoffs will begin Saturday for tiebreakers, followed by semifinals on Monday. The HHSAA tournament starts Feb. 5 at the BIIF No. 2 seed’s home field.
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SOCCER: KSH 2 – WAIAKEA 1
The Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i boys soccer team completed its regular season with a 9-0-0 record, downing home standing Waiakea High 2-1 on Tuesday afternoon in Hilo.
KSH took the lead early, as William Henderson and Gabriel Arquitola scored goals in the first half of the game. During the second half, Ito Doratt scored Waiakea’s only goal.
Leading the BIIF Div.-II standings by a whopping 17 points, KSH has secured the No. 1 seed for the BIIF DII playoffs. The defending DII state champions have so far crushed local competition in their division, surrendering just two goals to DII competitors this season.
Now 4-3-1, Waiakea stands at No. 3 in BIIF DI — behind No. 1 Kealakehe High (7-1) and No. 2 Hilo High (5-2).
BIIF boys soccer DI and DII semifinals will kick off Monday at each high seed. Matchups will be announced this weekend.
Based on standings as of Wednesday (Jan. 24) morning, the BIIF DI playoff picture shows No. 1 Kealakehe hosting No. 4 Kea‘au and No. 2 Hilo hosting No. 3 Waiakea. In DII No. 1 KSH may host No. 4 Parker and No. 2 HPA may host No. 3 Honoka‘a.
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BASKETBALL: HILO 74 – HONOKA‘A 50
Hilo High’s boys varsity basketball team notched its sixth home BIIF play win this season, routing Honoka‘a High 74-50 on Tuesday night in Hilo.
The score remained close through the first quarter as the Dragons struggled to penetrate the Vikings’ defense and the Hilo was hit-and-miss from the field. The lead bounced back and forth before Hilo closed out the frame ahead 14-11.
The Vikings set sail in the second quarter, putting up 13 unanswered points before Honoka‘a’s first score — a layup by Mauloa Tagabi with just under four minutes left in the frame. Hilo dominated the clock, scoring quickly and slowing down the Dragons’ offense to enter halftime leading 38-17.
In the third quarter, Honoka‘a finally outscored Hilo — 17-14 — but it was not enough to chop the hefty deficit accumulated during the second quarter. The Dragons entered the final frame trailing 52-34, and the rest is history.
Hilo’s Ikena Leao scored a game high 25 points, and teammate Peyton Pana scored 20.
Honoka‘a was led by the Tagabi brothers, Mauloa and Kukia, who each scored 15 points.
The Vikings moved to 9-1, and will next face their most important test of the season — a Saturday (Jan. 27) evening home game against undefeated BIIF Div.-I leader KS-Hawai‘i (9-0). The winner of this game will almost certainly receive the No. 1 seed for the BIIF DI playoffs.
Now 6-3, Honoka‘a still stands at No. 2 in BIIF Div.-II — but will need to finish the season strong in order to secure the No. 2 playoff berth. No. 3 Pahoa High (6-4) is just one game behind HHIS, and could easily snag the No. 2 seed before the regular season ends.
Three games remain for the Dragons, two of them against DI opponents. On Friday, HHIS will make another trip down the coast to play against Kea‘au High (3-7). Four days later, Honoka‘a will play at home against Christian Liberty (1-7). The Dragons will cap off the regular season Feb. 1 with their final home game, facing off against Konawaena High (6-4).
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KOHALA 50 – WAIAKEA 18
Kohala boys basketball remained undefeated in conference play Tuesday night after routing Waiakea 50-18 in Kapaau’s Kamehameha Park Gymnasium.
The Cowboys were victorious in every quarter played, including a 23-0 first quarter.
Sophomore star Layden Kauka led Kohala with 23 points, three steals and four 3-pointers made, while sibling teammate Landon Kauka added 10.The Warriors’ Josiah Amuimua had eight. Waiakea’s swingman is averaging 12.1 points a night in 2023-24.
Now at 13-2 overall and 8-0 in the BIIF, Kohala has four remaining games. Waiakea (5-6 overall, 5-5 BIIF) will next play St. Joseph’s at 7 p.m. Friday at home.