HondaReport.com - Girls' Basketball: Punahou Wahine Classic Wrapup; Buff n' Blue's win over Konawaena could have impact in post-season

Girls' Basketball: Punahou Wahine Classic Wrapup; Buff n' Blue's win over Konawaena could have impact in post-season

Preseason, say many coaches, is a time of experimentation with lineups, testing of tactics and developing team chemistry.

So be it. Don’t expect that exact answer from the head coaches of two top girls’ basketball teams.

HONOLULU—Preseason, say many coaches, is a time of experimentation with lineups, testing of tactics and developing team chemistry.

So be it. Don’t expect that exact answer from the head coaches of two top girls’ basketball teams.

When Punahou edged Konawaena, 43-41, Saturday afternoon, Mike Taylor and Bobbie Awa acknowledged the probable impact of this preseason matchup. (See Saturday’s wrapup from the Punahou Wahine Spring Classic below.)

As the defending state champion and an early favorite to win the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, Taylor’s Punahou squad could be in the driver’s seat if the Hawaii High School Athletic Association seeding committee sees the Buff n’ Blue and Konawaena as evenly matched teams based on regular-season play.

If Punahou wins the ILH and Konawaena wins the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion title again, the Buff n’ Blue may now have an edge thanks to Saturday’s win.

And if Kahuku, which pulled out close wins over both teams during this week’s Fourth Annual Punahou Wahine Spring Classic, captures the O’ahu Interscholastic Association championship, the Lady Raiders will be sitting prettiest of all.

It’s all a bunch of ifs, but the scenarios had Taylor and Awa thinking before and after the battle.

“It definitely has an effect,” said Awa, a veteran head coach who has guided her Wildcats to the last two state tournaments. “I think we needed to win in this tournament to get a top seed. Of course, we’d have to win the BIIF first.”

Unlike some other coaches, Taylor sees a strong pre-league schedule as a must in more than one way. First, it gives his team a real look at how it fares against future state tournament competition. Second, it gives tournament seeding committee members an additional set of indisputable, empirical evidence: Head-to-head results.

“We know Konawaena and Kahuku and a lot of the best teams will get better over the course of the season. We will, too. That’s why, in our preseason, we want to play the best teams,” he said.

Should Kahuku win the OIA decisively, it may not matter who is seeded second. In all likelihood, the ILH and BIIF champions would likely be seeded second and third. The Maui Interscholastic League, which has the least impressive history of the four leagues that receive opening-round byes for champions, will probably get a No. 4 seed again.

Neither Baldwin nor Lahainaluna, which both played in the Lady Tiger Challenge last week, were successful against the likes of Punahou. Baldwin and Lahainaluna are the early favorites to qualify for the state tourney out of the MIL.

If anything, if the scenario plays out and Kahuku dominates the OIA, getting a No. 2 seed would be of modest consolation for the ILH champion—perhaps a slightly easier draw. Either way, the ILH and BIIF champions will likely be lined up to face each other in the state tourney semifinals.

For Konawaena, the past four days of games in the 10-team Punahou Wahine Classic were an eye-opener. If not for missed free throws, the Wildcats would have likely beaten both Kahuku and Punahou. They missed 16 foul shots in a six-point loss to Kahuku, and missed key free throws down the stretch against Punahou, blowing a five-point lead.

Of course, anything can happen, from key injuries to academic probation. Kamehameha-O’ahu, for example, saw guard Tatriana Lorenzo sustain an ankle injury recently. Without her, the Warriors lost to OIA darkhorse Kaiser Thursday, 40-32, at the Imua Challenge.

Preseason, of course, is not over. The Moanalua tournament, which begins Thursday, features Punahou and Kamehameha. Saint Joseph, in Hilo, has a tournament that includes Konawaena, Kahuku and Kalaheo, a serious contender in the OIA.

Punahou 43, Konawaena 41—It wasn’t as extreme as Thursday, but Konawaena’s troubles at the free-throw line hurt just as badly in the loss to the Buff n’ Blue. The Wildcats led 37-32, but missed five free throws down the stretch, allowing Punahou to rally.

Pivot Makena Hunt scored inside on a dish from Shanna Dacanay, and freshman Ciana Aiwohi drained a 3-pointer from the left corner to tie the game at 37 with 4:11 left.

Jessica Hanato, named to the All-Tournament Team, was long on both of her free throws with 3:04 to play.

Dacanay’s drive was stopped a few seconds later when Nancy Hoist stuffed her shot in the paint. Moments later, point guard Kristen Kitaoka missed two foul shots with 2:12 to play.

Punahou finally capitalized. Christine Takara fired a pass to Tessa Sonobe for a fastbreak layup, giving Punahou a 39-37 lead with 2:04 left. Takara added two free throws with 1:07 remaining for a four-point Buff lead.

Hanato missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 57 seconds left, but Konawaena got the ball back. However, Eryn Chun stole the ball from Wildcat guard Hina Kimitete. After Takara missed the front end of her 1-and-1 with 28 seconds left, Konawaena still had hope.

Hanato spun on the low post for a layup, cutting the lead to 41-39. After the Wildcats called time out with 12 seconds left, they failed to foul Hunt on the inbound pass and wound up hacking Takara.

The junior forward sank both of her free throws, giving Punahou a 43-39 lead with 9.9 seconds left.

Hoist sank a 16-foot jumper with two seconds left, and Kona called time out. Takara passed to Chun at midcourt, and the senior dribbled out the final two ticks.

In all, Konawaena made just six of its 13 charity shots. “Free throws again. Layups. We needed to step up,” Awa said. “Missing layups in traffic versus missing uncontested layups, plus shooting less than 50 percent on free throws…”

For the ‘Cats, two years of BIIF success have led to state tourney frustration. Last year, they had a double-digit lead only to falter as Kahuku stormed back for a quarterfinal win. Kahuku went on to meet Punahou in the title game.

Konawaena is a serious contender for the state title, but until they get over the hump, the frustration lingers. “They know they can win. They sit here and watch. They know they can compete,” Awa said. “Even our zone, I thought, was effective.”

Punahou’s ability to adjust in mid-stream helped. Taylor drew out his x’s and o’s, and his posse of returnees nodded. His first-year players weren’t so ready, but they executed anyway. “Konawaena’s pressure man (defense) was tough. We got out of our flex and spread the floor. That was on the fly,” he said.

Coming off a 46-40 loss to Kahuku Thursday—the game was a two-point spread in the final minutes—Taylor could only hope for the best. “From last night’s game, I knew we had perseverance. We were down and came back. Today, we’re down five, and our freshman girl hits a 3. We’re tired today, but the morale of the team was great.”

The learning curve for a team that lost three key seniors—Player of the Year Rachel Kane, Becky Hogue and Elyse Umeda—to graduation is steep. “Compared to last week at McKinley’s tournament, we’ve improved. Our execution needs a lot of work, and we have a lot more wrinkles to put in. For now, I told the kids, ‘Let’s just enjoy it.’”

Fans got a treat in this mid-afternoon game at sultry Hemmeter Fieldhouse. Eight lead changes in the opening half led to a 21-all tie at intermission. Unlike most games, when offenses warm up midway through the opening quarter, both teams went scoreless in the final 3:30 of the first stanza.

Punahou, normally a sure-handed team, committed five turnovers during that span. Konawaena already had eight giveaways by the end of the first quarter against Punahou’s man defense.

Punahou unveiled its fullcourt press shortly after the second quarter began, but Konawaena handled it well. The Wildcats had just two turnovers in the second and stayed close.

Jazzmin Williams, the freshman sparkplug, fouled out with seven minutes to play in the game. Leading 33-32, Konawaena went to a 2-3 zone at that point. After Hoist hit two foul shots and Kimitete sank a jumper from the right wing, Konawaena led 37-32 with 5:03 left.

Hoist led Konawaena with 16 points. Hanato finished with nine, and Kimitete added eight.

Moanalua 50, Saint Francis 38—Kepua Lee scored nine of her 18 points in the opening quarter as the Menehune took an early lead and held on against the hustling Troubadours. Ronni Keli’iho’omalu added 11 point for Moanalua.

Monica Chock led Saint Francis with 11 points. The Troubadours had opportunities to make it a closer game in the third quarter, but a plethora of missed layups were their downfall.

Kahuku 90, Punahou II 28—Kahuku’s starters played the first few minutes of each quarter, giving reserves the bulk of playing time against the Division II Buff n’ Blue.

Senior center Latoya Wily paced Kahuku with 15 points. Tina Soliai, a junior guard, added 13 points. Monarisa Ale and Karla Tailele added 12 apiece as Kahuku’s fullcourt press smothered Punahou.

Kim Hoo, Karissa Look and Lori Nakamoto led the Buff n’ Blue with four points each.

Maryknoll 55, Kamehameha-East Hawaii 40—A balanced scoring attack powered the Spartans over the Big Island squad. Nicole Fu and Cheryl Lee led Maryknoll with 13 points each. Tammie Andres and center Sela Fisilau added 12 apiece.

Kepua Kekuewa, a sophomore, led the Warriors with 14 points. Jamie Mattos, another sophomore, added 12 points.