The Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) winter sports season continued Thursday with basketball and soccer matchups across the isle. Playoffs will begin Jan. 25 for basketball and Jan. 20 for soccer. See the paper in the coming weeks for coverage.
Basketball
Kohala 67, Kea‘au 2
One of the top teams on the island, Kohala girls basketball, had its biggest win of the season Thursday inside King Kamehameha Park Gymnasium. The Cowgirls moved to 7-1 in the BIIF and 12-2 overall, averaging over 50 points per night while allowing 27.3.
Kohala’s defense was the big story once again, holding an opponent to under 10 points for the second time this season. The Cowgirls swiped for 19 steals, led by Halia Perez-Bobek with seven. Ilima Napolean also had five.
Offensively, Kohala was firing on all cylinders from the opening tip, leading 53-2 at the half. The squad was led by Adriana Jayne Soriano and Mahea Pang with 17 points apiece. Soriano remains the black and gold’s top scorer this season at nearly 14 points per game in the BIIF.
The Lady Cougars’ only scorers were Lenzy Adlawan and Thaliya Kokubun, who each shot 1-for-2 at the charity stripe.
The Cowgirls have now won four straight, and will next be tested against Hawaii Preparatory Academy at 6 p.m. tonight in Kapa‘au.
Kea‘au (3-7) next plays Konawaena on Wednesday night in Kealakekua.
HPA 70, CLA 10
HPA boys basketball routed Christian Liberty Academy during Thursday’s game inside Castle Gymnasium, winning 70-10. It was the fourth time the team scored 70-or-more points this season, adding on to their season average of 61.7 points per game.
Ka Makani out-scored the Canefire 21-2 in the opening quarter to set the tone for the remainder of the night. Gavin Rhodes finished with 16 points while teammate Kaleb Loo added 12.
CLA’s Jermaine Cline was the team’s leading scorer with six.
Now with two straight wins under its belt, HPA (8-5 overall, 2-1 BIIF) will next be challenged against Kea‘au at 5 p.m. tonight in Waimea. The Canefire (1-4) next take the floor against KSH on Monday night in Kea‘au.
Kealakehe 86, Laupahoehoe 11
Kealakehe boys basketball had five double-digit scorers in its 86-11 thrashing of Laupahoehoe on Thursday on the Hamakua Coast. It also marked the third time this season that the Waveriders scored over 80 points.
Michael Miller (15), DeMarion Olloway (14), Demani Olloway (12), Isaac Cho (11) and Estavon Morales (10) all reached double digits in scoring. Kealakehe scored over 20 points in three of the four quarters.
Moving to 6-4 overall and 3-2 on the season, the Waveriders additionally played Friday night at St. Joseph’s in Kea‘au. See the paper next week to read the results. The 0-8 Seasiders will return to the floor against Waiakea on Tuesday in Hilo.
Soccer Kealakehe 5, Honoka‘a 0
Kealakehe boys soccer routed Honoka‘a on Thursday in Honoka‘a town, improving to 4-1-0 on the season after a 5-0 win. The victory came in bounce-back fashion, as the Waveriders dropped a match to Hilo earlier in the week.
Ezekiel Imai scored two goals to lead the winners, followed by Jansen Yeaton-Chaput, Shane Carroll and Alex Maira with one each.
Kealakehe will return to the pitch at 2 p.m. today at Waverider Stadium to face the visiting powerhouse in the KSH Warriors. See next week’s paper to read the results.
The Dragons fell to 1-7-0 overall, and will next face KS-Maui in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday at home.
NOTE: Upcoming BIIF matchups are subject to change.