The BIIF schedule-makers did their job, and now its time for the girls basketball teams from Konawaena, Hilo and Waiakea to get down to business and do theirs.
The BIIF schedule-makers did their job, and now its time for the girls basketball teams from Konawaena, Hilo and Waiakea to get down to business and do theirs.
Talk about a back-loaded schedule: All three teams enter the final week of the regular season undefeated, but, at best one will remain that way heading to the postseason.
The eight-time Division I league champion Wildcats (7-0) show no signs of slowing down, and the state’s gold standard can add another notch to its belt when its goes for its 100th consecutive league win Monday night at home against the Vikings (8-0).
“I’m looking forward to the challenge to see where we’re at,” first-year Hilo coach Cliff Kawaha said. “I think we are ready.”
The Warriors (8-0) were the last BIIF team to beat Konawaena – freshman Kelsie Imai was a kindergartner back when older sisters Kirsty and Kami helped Waiakea pull off the feat in the 2008 BIIF final – and first-year coach Brandon Kauhi’s bunch are the upstarts this year.
“I like how the year has played out, because it’s given the girls a chance to learn our program and given them a whole season to prepare,” Kauhi said.
From 2013-16, it was a foregone conclusion that Konawaena and Hilo were going to be rubber-stamped as the Big Isle’s HHSAA representatives, but Division I is a deep as its been in years thanks to the re-emergence of Waiakea and the addition of Honokaa.
Riding a freshmen infusion from Imai and Keeli-Jade Smith, improved play from sophomore Claire Kaneshiro and solid senior efforts from Kryssie Okinaka and Danielle Oda, the Warriors’ biggest wins to date came at home against Kamehameha and Honokaa.
But Kauhi knows this week, home games against Hilo on Wednesday and Konawaena on Saturday, is a different animal. In the preseason, Waiakea played the Vikings tough at their tournament, losing 35-32, and were blown out by Konawaena in the Wildcats’ tournament.
“The girls have done what they’ve been told, and I like how they’ve grown,” Kauhi said. “It’s given us a chance to get ready for the rematches, and the girls are excited to be playing in these games.”
The unspoken goal in D-I is to avoid the Wildcats in the BIIF semifinals, and even if Hilo and Waiakea lose to Konawaena this week they will have successfully done that. Wednesday’s rivalry game might only be for seeding, with both gearing up for a postseason showdown and a likely berth to the state tournament on the line.
The Dragons (4-3) can clinch the No. 4 seed with a win Monday against Keaau.
Junior Mandi Kawaha, seniors Cherish Quiocho and Sharry Pagan and freshmen Jamila Collins-Ebanez and Mindy Kawaha have helped the Vikings reload this season. Hilo has come close to upsetting Konawaena three times in the past three years, but all those games were played in East Hawaii, and precious few of the current Vikings have experience going up against the Wildcats.
“The first task is hopefully we settle down and don’t make too many nervous mistakes,” Cliff Kawaha said. “We need to take care of the ball.”
The Vikings’s last trip to Konawaena in January 2015 got away from them in a hurry as Cherilyn Molina, then a freshman, got hot from long range.
Led by Cherilyn and Celena, and junior Mikayla Tablit, the Wildcats will look to hang a 100 on the rest of the BIIF on Monday night.
In Division II, Ka’u (2-6) can clinch a playoff spot Monday with a home win against winless Hawaii Prep, which would also get Trojans into the Nos. 2-3 semifinals, most likely opposite Kohala. Kamehameha is a win away from locking down the top seed.