By Wes Nakama
The ‘Iolani girls basketball dynasty will stay alive for at least one more day, thanks to a thrilling 43-40 victory over scrappy Konawaena Friday night in the Pacific Century Fund Team Aloha State Championship semifinals.
A vocal crowd of about 600 and statewide television audience on Spectrum OC16 watched sophomore guard Justice Kekauoha post a game-high 22 points and seven rebounds to help the five-time defending champion Raiders improve to 19-10 and advance to Saturday’s 7 p.m. title game against No. 1 seed and Interscholastic League of Honolulu champ Kamehameha (22-1) at Blaisdell Arena. Aubrey Pak scored a team-high 21 points to lead the No. 2 seed and Big Island Interscholastic Federation Wildcats, who fell to 22-4 and into Saturday’s 1 p.m. third-place game vs. Campbell at Blaisdell.
Konawaena led, 38-36, after Pak swished a 3-pointer from the right corner with 1:29 remaining. Mia Frye sank one of two free throws 10 seconds later to close it to 38-37, and after Chelsea Lee chased down the rebound, Kina Sake scored on a putback with 1:07 left to put ‘Iolani ahead for good at 39-38.
After a miss at the other end, Kekauoha was fouled and converted both free throws with 25.9 seconds on the clock to make it 41-38. The Raiders then closed out on the 3-point line, forcing the Wildcats to settle for Kaylee Yamasaki’s layup to make it 41-40 with 2.9 seconds showing. Kekauoha was immediately fouled after the ensuing inbounds pass, and she sank both free throws to extend the lead to 43-40.
The Wildcats were able to advance the ball past halfcourt, but a 30-foot attempt was contested and fell short as time expired.
“We kept our composure and poise and kept battling one possession at a time, we just believed,” ‘Iolani coach Dean Young said. “We never thought we were going to lose, even when we were down.”
The game started as a defensive struggle, with the Raiders leading 8-5 after one period, 13-11 after two and 24-22 entering the fourth after ending the third with a 9-2 run. Frye’s layup pushed the lead to 29-24 with 5:48 remaining, but Pak answered with a 3 pointer from the left wing to spark a 14-7 surge capped by her final 3-pointer — her fifth in eight attempts — that put Konawaena ahead, 38-36, with 89 seconds to play.
“She’s capable, she just struggled at the beginning,” Wildcats coach Bobbie Awa said. “It’s good to be excited about (the lead), but we can’t celebrate. (Gotta) get back on defense.”
That was particularly true down the stretch, with Frye and Kekauoha in attack mode and making difficult finishes look easy. The duo combined to score 17 of the Raiders’ 19 fourth-period points.
“The first half was just put behind us, and this half, the second half, we just played how we usually played,” Kekauoha said. “We’ve been through so many situations like this, and we just kept our composure. Just forget about the last play, don’t dwell on it, and get it back on the next.”
Young said despite the early struggles on offense, he was more than pleased with the defensive effort.
“We had to be so disciplined, and communicate so well to stop them,” Young said. “We held them to 11 (points) in the first half, so I told the girls, ‘We have to celebrate what you just did.’ We only had 13 (points), that was an issue, but to hold that team to 11 in the first half? That was fantastic.”
Young said denying Konawaena on the game’s final possessions was a matter of executing a simple plan.
“We told them, ‘No 3’s,’ ” Young said. “We wanted to give one (foul), because we only had two … but it’s scary to foul a team that’s trying to shoot 3’s. It worked out.”
Now in order to keep the state championship streak alive, ‘Iolani must defeat a Kamehameha team that won all three regular season meetings, by scores of 46-43, 60-49 and 61-55.
“They’re just physically bigger and stronger than us, and they are just as skilled, so I don’t know what the answer to that is,” Young said. “We’ll try something. We’re not going to just do the same thing over and over again.”
Photos: Lori McKeown
