Posted on: Friday, May 21, 2004

Konawaena trounces Kamehameha, 64-34

By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Top-seeded Konawaena became the second Neighbor Island team to blow out an Interscholastic League of Honolulu team to reach the semifinals of the HHSAA/Hawaiian Airlines Girls State Basketball Championships.

Konawaena, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion, defeated Kamehameha, 64-34, in a quarterfinal game last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Konawaena (15-0) plays No. 4 seed Baldwin, the Maui Interscholastic League champion, tonight at 6:15, the first time two Neighbor Island teams will face each other in a semifinal game. Baldwin beat Iolani of the ILH, 48-26, yesterday.

Konawaena snapped a two-year streak of losing in the quarterfinals after being seeded, and halted a seven-game winning streak by Kamehameha (11-5).

"The past two years have been hurtful," Wildcats coach Bobbie Awa said. "But hopefully they're not satisfied with winning the first game."

Konawaena took a 16-13 lead into the second quarter after a closely contested first quarter that ended with a 3-pointer by senior center Nancy Hoist as time expired.

The Wildcats were aided when Kamehameha forward Mounia Nihipali picked up her second foul with about two minutes to go in the first quarter, forcing Kamehameha coach Clay Cockett to sit her for the remainder of the half.

"She hadn't done anything up until that point, so I tried to save her for the rest of the game."

Without the 5-foot-9 Nihipali gathering rebounds, Konawaena went on a 20-8 run to close out the half.

"We started making our outside shots," said guard Hina Kimitete, who scored 18 points.

Konawaena took a 31-19 lead into intermission, after a messy first half that included 16 turnovers by the Warriors and 15 by the Wildcats.

"Panic mode," Cockett said. "It was not necessarily inexperience, but we don't have a lot of basketball sense on this team."

The Wildcats opened the third quarter with a 13-0 run, extending their lead to 44-19.

"It was huge because the last two years we had leads going into halftime," Hoist said of the Wildcats' quarterfinal exits in the past two state tournaments.

"Last year they had to focus on Jazzmin (Williams) and Nancy (Hoist)," Awa said. "Now we have scorers from the outside, we have a more well-rounded team and we pose more of a threat to other teams."

Williams scored 18 points and Hoist added 12. Kamehameha's sophomore guard Tatriana Lorenzo scored a game-high 21 points.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.