Kamehameha holds of Hawaii Baptist, 49-41

Kamehameha's Kalina Obrey puts up a shot in the paint against Hawaii Baptist in the third quarter. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Kalina Obrey scored 18 points to help Kamehameha beat Hawaii Baptist Academy, 49-41, in the final day of the Orthopedic Associates Sacred Hearts Invitational Saturday at Sacred Hearts.

The Warriors were to play host Sacred Hearts in the tournament finale, but it was mutually agreed upon by the teams to scrap the championship format since Kamehameha will play the Lancers in their Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I season opener on Thursday.

The Lancers played Waiakea instead, but lost 55-50.

"We're going to play each other probably four times this year," Kamehameha coach Joseph Cho said. "We just agreed on it. It's just senseless to play again."

Since the Eagles play in the ILH D2, the game provided a different look for both teams. The Warriors got to see why Hawaii Baptist's Ally Wada was a first-team All-Hawaii D2 selection last year. The 5-foot-9 senior led the Eagles with 18 points, including four 3-pointers. After draining three 3-pointers early, the Warriors put the 5-foot-11 Obrey on her the rest of the way to minimize the outside threat.

"Ally's a great player," said Obrey, the tournament's MVP. "I know her from volleyball so it's kind of fun playing against her. She's good. She can shoot, so it was fun."

Wada was forced to change her approach, looking to use screens to get clearer looks at the basket. But she only made one 3-pointer after Obrey started guarding her.

Pulling Obrey out of the paint to defend Wada could benefit the Warrior center in the long run.

"She can guard on the perimeter," Cho said of Obrey. "We've always talked with her parents and her that when she gets to the next level, she might be a perimeter player, so we've been working with her on the outside as well."

Wada said she liked the experience of playing a D1 team.

"The pace is really different from Division II," Wada said. "Since it's a preseason game, it's really good for us to have them expose some of our weaknesses. It's a a really good opportunity for us. They're a really good team."

Leads changed 10 times through the first three quarters, the last by Kamehameha when Esther Naum scored on an assist by Jewel Paaluhi-Caulk after a turnover just before the period ended.

The Warriors opened the fourth period with a 5-2 run - all five points were scored by Obrey - before Wada's final trey pulled Hawaii Baptist to within 37-36. But sophomore Keenyn Santiago answered with a 3-pointer of her own as the Warriors were able to keep the Eagles at bay the rest of the way.

Sophomore Noelle Sua-Godinet led the Warriors with 11 rebounds with Naum, also a sophomore pulling down seven along with Obrey.

With the 5-foot-10 Kiana Vierra out with an ankle injury, Cho was pleased with how the sophomores performed.

"Naum is only a sophomore and still learning to play at our level," Cho said. "But she did a heck of a job today. She has that potential. Our sophomore class is a really strong class. (Naum) showed a lot of confidence this weekend, so we're going to play her a lot more."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].