Waiakea will look back and see clutch plays made. Hilo will remember a night when the game got away and only see opportunities lost.
The Warriors played better down the stretch to hold off Hilo 55-52 in a BIIF Division I girls basketball showdown Thursday night at the Vikings Gym.
Kelsie Imai, who scored one point in the first half, scored on a jump shot in the lane, drew a foul and hit her free throw for a three-point play to give Waiakea the go-ahead lead at 49-47 with 2:18 left. She shook free from the tight guard of Keirstyn Agonias.
Veda Galima hit a pair of free throws to get Hilo within 51-49 with 46.9 seconds remaining.
Then both teams traded turnovers. Keeli-Jade Smith was fouled and hit two free throws for a 53-49 Waiakea lead with 37.2 seconds remaining.
Mindy Kawaha hit a jump shot to close Waiakea’s lead to 53-51 with17.2 seconds left on the clock.
Later, Hilo forced another Waiakea turnover and Galima got to the free throw line with the score 53-51 with 3.3 on the clock. She made the first free throw and missed the second. The Viks trailed 53-52 with 1.7 seconds left.
Then Waiakea’s Tayvia Cabatbat was fouled and sank both free throws for the 55-52 final score.
Cabatbat came off the bench and scored 11 points, Imai and Smith each scored 10 points for Waiakea (4-0), which shot 47 percent from the field, including 4 of 7 from beyond the arc.
Agonias scored 14 points, Jamila Collins-Ebanez added 12 points, and Galima got 10 points for the Vikings (2-2), who shot 56 percent from the floor, including 4 of 10 from 3-point range.
The Viks left too many points on the free throw line. They went just 12 of 27 or 44 percent. The Warriors made 18 of 25 free throws.
In the first half, both teams either hoisted 3-pointers or attacked the rim to draw fouls and free throws.
Agonias scored seven points in the first quarter, first driving to the rim for a basket, drawing a foul and sinking a free throw for a three-point play. She also hit a pair of free throws and drove into the lane and hit a jump shot.
Jazelle Dorser and others guarded Agonias, who made 4 of 8 from the free throw line in the first half.
Agonias closely guarded Imai and didn’t give her space to drive the baseline, except once in the second half. Imai had the ball on the right post, did her patented spin move and banked a shot off the glass, a scoring play memorized in her sleep for a 37-32 lead in the third quarter with 2:17 left.
Galima buried a 3-pointer to give Hilo a 12-8 lead with under two minutes in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Waiakea continually pounded the ball inside and made 13 of 17 from the free throw line in the first half. Hilo made just 6 of 14 free throws.
The Warriors went on a 10-0 run to take a 24-19 lead with 4:02 left until halftime. Destynee Williams buried a 3-pointer, Smith hit a pair of free throws, Ayana Meyer nailed a 3-pointer, and Williams hit two more free throws.
The Vikings later brought in Kalea Harris, their lone big, to get better inside defense. But the Warriors closed the half with a 6-2 run for a 30-22 halftime lead.
Kori-Lynn Fernandez hit a jump shot, Hilo’s Galima scored on a putback, Smith got a bucket, and Cabatbat scored to close the half.