By Wes Nakama
The Moanalua girls basketball team is right where it hoped to be, at 10-0 in the OIA Eastern Division, although the journey was not always easy or as planned.
That includes Tuesday night’s 58-51 home victory over Kailua, which led 26-24 at halftime and 44-39 after three periods. Moanalua started the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run capped by Tenaya Daniels’ layup to go ahead, 50-44, with 3:40 remaining. After Myah Galdeira’s free throw cut it to 50-47 with 2:14 left, Shailoh Li’ili’i answered with a layup 19 seconds later to help Na Menehune close out the game with an 8-4 surge.
The victory sets up Thursday’s showdown at Kahuku (10-0); Kailua fell to 8-2.
“When we saw our schedule, we knew our last couple games were going to be hard,” said Li’ili’i, a junior post who finished with a game-high 18 points and three blocked shots. “It’s good, because we wouldn’t want them first when we’re not yet developed. But throughout the season we gained a lot of chemistry, and we’re improving.”
The challenges actually began months ago, when starting point guard Braylee Riturban suffered a season-ending knee injury last summer. Moanalua struggled through a 2-8 nonleague schedule, but began OIA play with a 42-24 victory over Roosevelt and has not looked back since.
Kailua, in the meantime, also overcame some early absences and a 5-6 nonleague record to enter Tuesday’s game at 8-1, with the only loss coming to first-place Kahuku.
The Surfriders started strong, using a 10-3 surge to go up, 13-7, six minutes into the game. Na Menehune responded with an 11-0 run to begin the second period, with Akaecia Mateo’s layup giving them a 21-18 lead with 4:18 remaining in the half. Kailua answered with an 8-1 run, as Sarai Maiava’s jumper from the left wing put the Surfriders ahead, 26-22, at the 1:22 mark. Rheanna Nobleza then scored on a driving layup with 18 seconds on the clock to cut it to 26-24 at halftime.
A 3-pointer from the left wing by Kiani Ho’oluli pushed the lead to 33-24 with 5:50 remaining in the third period, and her free throw with 2:17 left in the quarter made it 41-33.
“We hadn’t faced anybody like this, and I told (the girls) it’s gonna be a trap game,” Moanalua coach Kirk Ronolo said. “Kailua’s girls know where to be in open areas to receive the ball in scoring position. And it showed tonight — they were always open, they made the extra pass. They’re smart ball players, so we can’t have that lazy defense and let them take over like that, it’s going to bite us in the rear.”
Galdeira’s 3-pointer from the right wing made it 44-39 with six seconds remaining in the third period, but Na Menehune made adjustments at both ends going into the fourth, and it paid off with the decisive 11-0 run.
“On defense, we had to be in (proper) position instead of being lazy,” Ronolo said. “Offensively, we weren’t executing properly. Our wings should be up high, but we had them in the corner so we couldn’t utilize Shailoh in the post because this (backside) person would help. So I had to move them out of the corners and get them high on the wing, and make the entry (pass) from there on the top. Now they can’t get that help, so it helps Shailoh with the spacing.”
Li’ili’i and Daniels combined to score the next 15 points for Moanalua, with Daniels’ layup pushing the lead to 54-47 at the 1:41 mark.
“I think it was a little bit of lapse in our focus and our discipline in that tail end,” Kailua coach Mandy Llameda said. “And then when the momentum starts to go in the other direction, and you have a team that’s very experienced, it’s tough to match that … I wished we closed better.”
Daniels finished with 13 points and Mateo added 10 points. Galdeira led the Surfriders with 16 points, with Maiava and Ho’olulu each adding 14 points.
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