HHSAA Girls Basketball
Iolani dominates Konawaena for fourth-straight Division I state crown


  



Fri, Feb 3, 2023 @ Stan Sheriff


Final 1 2 3 4  
Konawaena (13-0, 18-4) 12 710938
Iolani (12-3, 20-5) 12 20 8 1959
P. Oh 17 pts  3 3pm  6/6 FTs
B. Kauhi 19 pts  2 3pm  3/4 FTs
M. Sake 12 tot  5 off  7 def
L. Kaanoipua 7 tot  3 off  4 def
H. Ohta 6 ast
B. Kauhi 6 ast

Iolani no ka oi.

Paige Oh scored a team-high 17 points and other Raiders stepped up on the biggest stage to help top-ranked, seeded Iolani flatten second-ranked, seeded Konawaena, 59-38, to win their fourth-straight Heide & Cook/HHSAA Division I State Championship at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

The Raiders (20-5 overall) add their fourth-consecutive koa trophy to the case and eighth-overall in program history.

"An absolute team effort. This group faced adversity throughout the season and we lost two starters. We had to change the whole line up and offense. They stuck with it and bought in and stuck together. The defense tonight was amazing. Effort and communication, it's all teamwork, and I'm super proud of them," Iolani coach Dean Young said.

Abby Tanaka, a three-time state champion, echoed the same sentiments.

"This one shows how one team can really win a championship. It sounds really cliche but we really had no star player this year. Everyone is so versatile and that's what I love about this team," Tanaka said.

Oh, the smallest player on the floor, scored her 17 on 4-of-9 shooting from the field, including 3-for-5 from 3, and shot 6-for-6 from the free throw line despite battling an ankle injury suffered in the third quarter.

"We can't go down three starting guards. We're already down two. You saw how important she was. She righted the ship when she got back in. I was happy when it was an ankle and nothing more serious," Young said.

Post players Callie Pieper added 11 points and five boards, Mele Sake, named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, finished with eight points and 12 rebounds.

Haylie-Anne Ohta contributed seven points and six assists and Kanoe Hanohano poured in seven off the bench.

"The speech at the beginning of the season was if we're going to do it, it's going to be a team effort. It's going to be all you role players working together to get it done. It took them buying in and it took a complete-team effort to get it done," Young said.

The Wildcats wiped out Moanalua, 47-34, in the quarterfinals and rallied from a double digit deficit against Kamehameha-Kapalama, 48-42 in the semis to reach the title game for the third-consecutive season with a roster comprised of two seniors and the rest freshmen and sophomores.

"It was awesome to see them grow. We're lucky the admin let us travel so we got a bit of games in this season. We need it for the young girls. We needed that competition and as many games as we could. They did so good and I'm super proud of them," co-head coach Bobbie Awa said.

Haikela Hiraishi knotted the game at 12 after making the second free throw but Iolani opened the second quarter on a 11-0 run. Sake went glass to open the period and Oh hit a triple from the top of the arc. Pieper knocked down a pair of free throws and Ohta fed her on a cut. Mia Frye hit a floater in the lane to make it, 23-12.

"A lot the focus was on Callie and Mele because they're such a threat in the paint and it opens up a lot of our 3-pointers and a lot of our players can shoot so it worked out for us," Oh said as the team hit 4-of-13 from the perimeter.

Kaanoipua Leleiwi scored the first points of the quarter for the Wildcats at the 3:39 mark off a pair of free throws. Ohta lobbed it to Sake from the baseline and Sake worked the high-low with Pieper who scored to make it, 27-14.

HHSAA Division I Girls Basketball All-Tournament Team

(as selected by the media and HHSAA)

Paige Oh, Iolani

Braelyn Kauhi, Konawaena

Callie Pieper, Iolani

Nihoaokealii Dunn, Kamehameha-Kapalama

Kya Kanoho, Kamehameha-Kapalama

Most Outstanding Player

Mele Sake, Iolani

"Tonight I tried to work on passing and distributing because I wasn't hitting my shots so I had find another way to impact the game," Ohta said.

Ohta found Tanaka who was fouled in the lane as she made the shot and completed the 3-point play with 53.0 seconds left. Tanaka made the most of her minutes on the court after suffering a grade-3 PCL tear in the preseason. The pair were members of the previous three championship teams.

"It felt surreal to me. I was happy to get into the game. That pass coming from Haylie felt like the old days when we were growing up playing," Tanaka said.

"That was a special moment. It brought back a lot of memories. Abby and I go back to a long time ago. That meant a lot to me because I found her and I'm usually the one getting her the shots. To see her score like that was really nice," Ohta added.

Braelyn Kauhi and Leleiwi accounted for the next five points for the Wildcats as it shot 2-for-7 from the field and trailed, 32-19 going into halftime.

"We knew we couldn't let up going into halftime. We knew this team was scrappy and well-coached so we couldn't let them get back in the game," Oh said.

The Raiders extended the lead to 15 following Oh's 3-pointer from the right wing before both teams traded trips to the free throw line. Oh fouled Hiraishi and tweaked her ankle at the 6:28 mark. She got her ankle taped up and checked back in with 4:51 to go that relieved Raider fans in the arena.

"It was sore in the moment, but I wanted to get taped up as fast as possible and come out here to help my team because it's my last game and I wanted to push through it," Oh said.

"She's a dawg. She can push through anything and she's a tough one," Ohta said.

Hanohano came off the bench and attacked the rim and was fouled on consecutive offensive possessions. She went 4-for-6 from the free throw line in the quarter and put Iolani ahead, 40-23.

The Wildcats crept back into the game with a 6-0 run to close out the final 2:25 of the third quarter. Kaylie Yamasaki split a pair of free throws and Kauhi swung it to her in the corner for a 3-pointer. Leleiwi hit both one-and-one free throws to bring Konawaena within 11 going into the fourth.

Kauhi drained a 3-pointer near the top of the arc at the 6:48 mark to get the Wildcats within eight but could not get any closer. Sake and Oh were fouled putting them in the bonus and came away with four free throws. Ohta found Hanohano in the corner for a triple and later scored on a putback.

Iolani closed out the game 8-for-12 from the free throw line and shot 25-for-33 (75.8 percent) overall.

"I think practice really helped us. I feel like our coaches did a good job for end-of-game situations. Everyone stepped up," Ohta said.

Kauhi fouled out with 1:03 left and finished with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting, six rebounds to lead the Wildcats in the loss. Leleiwi was the next highest scorer with eight.

"Her and Alexa (Meyer) are the two senior leaders. I had Brae for four years and wished we got one for her. Hopefully she can play at the next level, she wants to. We'll see where this takes her. She was a great leader this year. She said, ‘It's almost like I have to learn to play with them, rather them playing with me.' She did an awesome job leading them, showing them. I'm super proud of how she played and literally led the team this year," Awa said of Kauhi.

Iolani won the rebounding margin 35 to 20 and held Konawaena to shoot 10-for-34 (29.4 percent) from the field while it shot 15-for-41 (36.6 percent). 

Konawaena was seeking its first state title since 2018 and 10th overall in program history.

Iolani won the first game of the season against Konawaena, 50-34 back on Nov. 12.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

Castle takes down Kaiser in four sets to keep pace in OIA East

Cody Pili-Rumusod had nine kills and a game-high 35 assists to pace the Knights, winners of four straight...

Radford wins on walk-off wild pitch to turn back Kalaheo

Mataio Tauanuu batted 4-for-4 and scored the game-winning run in back-and-forth game for the Rams.

Punahou continues unbeaten streak, hands Kamehameha second straight loss

Third-ranked Warriors suffered consecutive losses in the regular season for the first time since 2017.

No. 4 Iolani rallies to hand No. 1 Kamehameha first ILH loss

Ethan Akagi and CJ Taira scored the winning runs for the Raiders off a wild pitch to hand the top-ranked...

Punahou pulls away from PAC-5 to notch first ILH win

The Buffanblu ended a five-game skid and broke into the win column to keep the Wolfpack winless in the...

Kalani's Nishigaya headlines All-OIA East selections

Forward/midfielder Kaiulani Nishigaya helped lift Falcons to first-ever league title; Kaiser's Noelani...