By Wes Nakama
Four-time defending state champion ‘Iolani rallied from an 11-point fourth-period deficit Wednesday and then held off Campbell, 52-47, in an exciting night of Heide & Cooke/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Quarterfinals action.
A tense and vocal crowd of about 350 at McKinley’s Student Council Gym watched Mia Frye score a game-high 16 points with eight rebounds and Justice Kekauoha and Mele Sake each add 13 points as the No. 1 seeded Raiders improved to 21-2. Jaynalyn Sotelo scored 15 points and Taysia Molina-Schulte added 12 points for the Sabers, who fell to 18-6.
‘Iolani advanced to Thursday’s 5:30 p.m. semifinal at McKinley against No. 4 seed Lahainaluna, which is 14-5 after getting a state tournament record 41 points from senior guard Lola Donez and holding off Waiakea, 69-66.
No. 2 seed Konawaena (20-3) will face ILH runner-up Kamehameha (16-7) in the other semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be televised live statewide on Spectrum OC Channel 16.
Raiders coach Dean Young said he knew his team’s “Drive for Five” would be on a rough road once the brackets were released and he saw OIA runner-up Campbell on the front end.
“I thought we had a tough draw, and we’re the No. 1 seed,” Young said. “But it is what it is, and we still had to beat them at some point. We gotta go through three good teams to get the koa trophy.”
The Sabers opened tournament play on Monday with a convincing 59-26 victory over Mililani and came out firing again early against ‘Iolani.
They led 17-8 after Shanna Sardon’s 3-pointer capped a 10-2 run just 21 seconds in to the second period, before the Raiders clawed back to close it to 28-25 at halftime and 28-27 after Sake’s two free throws 15 seconds into the third quarter.
Tehani Docktor then drained a 3-pointer from the left corner to ignite a stunning 13-0 run capped by Aliyah Bantolina’s short banker with 2:21 remaining in the third period that stretched the lead to 41-27. Campbell got seven 3-pointers from five different players in the game’s first 22 minutes.
“We watched them play Mililani on Monday, and they were shooting like that,” said Frye, a junior guard. “We didn’t come out like how we needed to. They’re a super good team, I respect them a lot. But we should have come out harder. I got a lot of 3-pointers shot in my face, and that can’t happen.”
‘Iolani cut the deficit to 42-31 entering the fourth, at which time they employed an effective full- and three-quarter-court press that immediately caused turnovers and disrupted the Sabers’ flow. Sake scored on back-to-back layups followed by Frye’s pull-up jumper to close it to 42-38 two minutes in, and Frye later hit another jumper from the right elbow to start an 8-0 run capped by Sake’s layup that pushed the Raiders ahead, 46-44, with 2:14 left.
Sotelo then swished a 3-pointer from the right wing to put Campbell back in front, 47-46, with 1:11 remaining. But Sake answered with a layup 19 seconds later to push ‘Iolani ahead for good at 48-47. On the ensuing possession, Frye blocked a 3-point attempt and was fouled after securing the ball, then sank two free throws to make it 50-47 with 9.6 ticks on the clock.
Campbell then turned it over after advancing to halfcourt and Frye was fouled again, and she swished two free throws to seal the victory with 0:0.4 showing.
“If we just took care of the ball in the fourth quarter like we did in the first three quarters, we would have been just fine,” Sabers coach Jazmine Corpuz said. “Still, we had opportunities, we got shots off, but they didn’t fall at the right time. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.”
LAHAINALUNA 69, WAIAKEA 66
Donez, a 5-foot-11 senior guard who signed with California last fall, broke the previous record of 38 points set by Kamehameha’s Kalina Obrey in 2019.
The Lunas needed all of Donez’s 41 points, as the Warriors (11-3) had a chance to tie off an inbounds play with four seconds remaining. The ball went to the left corner, but the 3-point attempt was blocked by Donez as time expired.
“We just had to keep pushing, the lead just kept getting smaller,” Donez said. “My coach was telling me, ‘You gotta go, you gotta help us, you gotta score.’ So I was like, ‘Alright.’ I just did my best to get what I could. Of course it came down to the defensive end … I just kind of slid over (around a screen) and luckily I was within enough range to get a little block out there.”
Donez was 16 of 22 from the field, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range, converted five of six free throw attempts and also scored on an assortment of creative drives and mid-range jumpers. She also added five rebounds, three assists, three steals and one block. Matahikulangi Faleta added 13 points and 14 rebounds for Lahainaluna, which turned a 20-16 second-period deficit into a 42-32 halftime lead, then a 58-51 edge entering the fourth.
Donez said more than ever, the Lunas are playing not just for themselves and the school but also for the entire Lahaina town, which was ravaged by wildfires last August 8.
“Couple of our teammates and our coach lost their homes,” Donez said. “We just want to do whatever we can for our community.”
Pua Herrington led Waiakea (11-3) with 23 points, nine boards, four steals and two assists, and Jolie Mantz added 18 points, four steals and three rebounds.
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