courtesy Deren Oshiro

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02141640_hbajube.jpg - courtesy Deren Oshiro

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Hawaii Baptist claimed its first HHSAA girls basketball state title in school history with a 44-31 win over Kamehameha-Hawaii in convincing fashion.

The wire-to-wire win over the Warriors capped off a perfect ILH campaign, and provided a certain measure of redemption as well.

"It was a disappointing loss to Honokaa (last year) but it gave it us some motivation this year so I'm proud of these girls, and proud of these seniors and the leadership they provided," said Hawaii Baptist head coach Keith Sugiura.

Back-to-back three pointers by Stephanie Dang and Katelyn Nakagawa spotted the Eagles an early 6-0 lead, and the Warriors missed its first seven shots and committed a pair turnovers before a Makenzie Kalawaia jumper put Kamehameha-Hawaii on the board at the 1:20 mark.

Forward Ally Wada, who led the way with a game-high 13 points and added 11 rebounds, got going in the second quarter. The 5-foot-8 sophomore scored six points in the quarter and added seven more after halftime.

"She's our most versatile player. She plays inside and outside for us," said Sugiura. "I think she's starting to believe in what type of player she can be. Its really nice to see her improve from the beginning of year, not just on the basketball court but also as a team leader."

The Warriors closed to within a point as a Kalawaia jumper closed the gap to 12-11 with 4:57 left until halftime, but the Eagles did not allow a point down the stretch to take a 19-11 lead after two complete.

Down the stretch, the BIIF champions would not get any closer, but it certainly was not for lack of effort.

Kamehameha-Hawaii attempted twice as many field goals in the second half as Hawaii Baptist, but the Eagles efficiency from the field (7-of-16) overcame the disparity in opportunities.

"Our coach told us to go out hard, cause they (Kamehameha-Hawaii) always has a lot of energy," said Wada. "So we have to meet their energy level and just play our game."

Senior Ashley Benn scored all six of her points in the third quarter as the Eagles outscored the Warriors 13-7 in the period to take a commanding 32-18 lead into the final eight minutes of play, and Dang, also a senior, closed the door in the fourth, scoring seven of the final eight points to put the game on ice.

Dang and Benn finished with 12 and six points respectively in their final game as Eagles, but their contributions to their team went well beyond the scorebook.

"We really want to give credit to our seniors, Stephanie Dang, Ashley Benn, Keisha Ching and Cassidy Wada," said Sugiura. "Their leadership and example really pushed us through some difficult times."

The Warriors committed less turnovers (10) than the Eagles (11) in the game, but were held to just 19.6 percent shooting from the field.

Caitlin Poe led Kamehameha-Hawaii with 12 points, and Taylor Sullivan added two points and nine rebounds in the loss.

SL intern Shayne Pajimola contributed to this story.