Not so long ago, Waiakea was often second best, a good place to be as Konawaena continues its girls basketball dynasty.
However, Hilo has recently filled that role, tagging along with the Wildcats to the HHSAA Division I state tournament as the BIIF runner-up the last three years.
It’s very, very unlikely anyone will unseat Kona, the defending seven-time BIIF champion, at the height of its power with seniors Chanelle Molina and Ihi Victor leading the charge for a second consecutive state title.
With Honokaa, the two-time state Division II champion, jumping up to Division I, there’s now more competition, including Keaau and Kealakehe, in the musical chairs race for the league’s second spot to the state tournament.
The key is to not be the No. 4 seed in the four-team BIIF playoffs and face likely No. 1 Kona. The BIIF regular-season champion also earns the league’s first state berth.
The Warriors claimed the No. 3 seed the last two years, but couldn’t take down the No. 2 Vikings, falling in the BIIF semifinals 53-22 last season and 59-42 in 2014. Waiakea lost to Kona in the BIIF semis 41-31 in 2013, when there was an East-West format.
Waiakea will get a good idea of its place in the pecking order with its Winter Goodwill Tournament, which runs Thursday through Saturday and includes Hilo, Honokaa and Kamehameha, the only Division II team.
“It’s a good field, and we wanted to match ourselves up and see where we stand,” Waiakea second-year coach Kevin Iwata said. “We’ve got a nice nucleus of returnees with four starters back. The girl are working on defense and trusting each other. There’s better team chemistry and it helps.”
The key returnees are 5-foot-5 senior forward Elyse Hasegawa, and 5-5 junior guards Kryssie Okinaka and Danielle Oda, each an All-BIIF honorable mention pick last season. All three are co-captains.
The other starter back is 5-7 forward Sydney Layaoen. Two freshmen, 5-8 forward Madison Hwang and 5-3 guard Claire Kaneshiro, will see significant time.
Also, 5-7 senior Brianna Ridgway, a volleyball import, is playing hoops for the first time and could help in the rebounding department.
“Elyse gives everything she’s got every night. She’s undersized but plays like she’s 5-10. She’s got the mentality of a big,” Iwata said. “Danielle is a good spot-up shooter. She’s really great at rebounding for her size. She understands the offense and tries to get everyone involved. Kryssie’s my slasher. Out of the three, she’s the most athletic and fastest.
“Sydney is kind of long and she’s a really good defender. She’s easy to coach and just works hard. She’s good in that aspect. The two freshmen have a lot of poise and have been playing youth basketball for a few years. Brianna gives us height and athleticism. Hopefully, she’ll be one of the people helping us as far as rebounding and playing down low.”
Waiakea’s offense is based on spacing and cutting to find open looks for shooters. Ball movement is always better when there’s a bunch of players familiar with the system. Shooting is a technical skill that always improves with repetition.
However, it’s on the defensive end where the Warriors are really putting in work. If there’s one aspect that needs sharpening, it’s transition defense or, basically, hustling back on D.
What’s the bread-and-butter strength and common denominator among Konawaena, Hilo and Honokaa?
That’s an easy answer: athleticism.
Each title contender can pressure the ball, get a turnover and layup for easy points, especially with floor runners like Kona’s Chanelle Molina, Hilo’s Lexi Pana and Honokaa’s Kizzah Maltezo.
When the postseason comes around, teams tighten their possession counts. In half-court sets, the momentum swings usually make an appearance when someone rebounds a miss, and fires an outlet to a floor runner for an easy layup.
Waiakea has been on the wrong end of those plays for the last three years.
“The key is teamwork. We have to play with each other,” Iwata said. “Defensively, we have to play a lot better than last year. We’ve been working hard on our transition and half-court defense every day. Last year, we played a lot of zone. We’ve got a lot of athletes where we can play man, create havoc and get turnovers.”
A zone defense is a great way to protect the rim and snag rebounds, eliminating the other way to get easy points with putbacks.
However, the problem with zone is the athletic teams with rim attackers and sharp shooters find soft spots and mismatches, or have an effective foul-tagging post offense. Those teams are nicknamed the Wildcats, Vikings and Dragons.
History time
Not so long ago, Waiakea could run a track meet with anyone and win or, at least, finish second.
The Warriors won their last BIIF title in 2008 and finished runner-up to Kona the next four years.
Those teams were powered by athletic standouts such as sisters Kirsty and Kami Imai, Kira De Morales, Kanisha Bello, Ciera Pacheco, Alyssa Ferreira, and Sefulu Faavae.
During that time, then-Hilo coach Ben Pana waited patiently for his young hoopsters to grow up. He had been developing a talented core with his Keaukaha club team. They made their debut in the 2013 season.
The Warriors still had talented players like Faavae, forward Shaila Apele and guard Keani Shirai, who’s on UH-Hilo’s roster. But the Viks had junior standout Aliyah Pana and freshmen difference-makers Lexi Pana, Shalyn Guthier and Sharlei Graham-Bernisto.
The turning point for the two schools came in the BIIF season opener that year. Hilo beat Waiakea 37-33. Lexi Pana scored 17 points and Graham-Bernisto added 11. And in the BIIF semifinals, the East-West format was in play and Waiakea got an unwanted date with Kona.
Waiakea’s wait
As successful as the Wildcats have been, basketball is not a popular sport. This season, they have only eight players on their roster. It’s obvious that soccer is the clear choice of sport for many Wildcats.
Those three key Viking freshmen, Pana, Guthier and Graham-Bernisto, from that 2013 BIIF runner-up season, are now seniors. Ben Pana is now the Hilo boys coach and trying to build that program.
Meanwhile, Waiakea has four seniors on its 11-player roster: Hasegawa, Ridgway, Wren Pacheco and Maria Bartolome. The Warriors also have a junior varsity team waiting in the wings.
Iwata helps coach the Fly Girls club team with Clayton Honma. The two have daughters in the eighth grade. Honma’s daughter goes to Christian Liberty, which doesn’t have basketball.
“I’m familiar with some of the kids on the JV team,” Iwata said. “We’ve got seventh and eighth graders coming up. But it’s hard because we don’t really have a feeder team.
“A lot of girls at Waiakea go and play soccer. It’s more popular. We also compete with canoe paddling. Volleyball is year-round with club teams. The girls on the Fly Girls club team are from all over. It’s all about teaching at that level.”
But sometimes, patience pays off.
Pana can tell Iwata that when a nice nucleus grows up and works hard, at the very least, there’s a seat at the state tournament waiting.
Waiakea girls tournament
Waiakea High
Thursday
Waiakea JV vs. Hilo JV, 4:30 p.m.
Kamehameha vs. Hilo, 6 p.m.
Waiakea vs. Honokaa, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Waiakea JV vs. Kamehameha JV, 4:30 p.m.
Kamehameha vs. Honokaa, 6 p.m.
Waiakea vs. Hilo, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Waiakea JV vs. Honokaa JV, 10 a.m.
Hilo vs. Honokaa, 11:30 a.m.
Waiakea vs. Kamehameha, 1 p.m.
