This was Kamehameha point guard Nique Pacheco’s chance to show she’s the best player in BIIF Division II girls basketball.
But there’s always a catch to the player of the year award. It almost always goes to the top player on the BIIF championship team.
Kamehameha got the BIIF title thing out of the way.
With a fully healthy Pacheco, the Warriors thumped Hawaii Prep 33-26 for the BIIF crown on Wednesday at Afook Chinen Civic Auditorium, winning their first title since 2018, the same year of their last state championship.
Kamehameha (8-4) and HPA (5-7) will next play at the state tournament, slated for Feb. 5-8 at the Civic.
Last season, then-HPA freshman Kyana Brucelas was voted the BIIF player of the year. She’s since transferred to Lahainaluna.
Pacheco was injured late in the season, missed the final two games of the regular season and was limited during the BIIF postseason. In the BIIF semifinals, Ka Makani, with a 2-8 record, upset the Warriors, a swing factor for the voting coaches.
On Wednesday, Pacheco scored 15 points, dished five assists and played all 32 minutes, and Sarah Schubert added 13 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Warriors, who shot 35 percent, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range.
“This feels great. It’s amazing,” Pacheco said. “We tried to encourage each other, and be on the same page, and we wanted to help each other.”
Maja Burdova scored 14 points, hitting 3 of 9 from 3-point range, and Mariah Borce added six points for HPA, which converted just 27 percent from the field, including 4 of 17 from long distance.
Schubert and Pacheco were too much of an inside-outside scoring combination. Ka Makani couldn’t stop Schubert down low, and Pacheco repeatedly beat her defender off the dribble.
“It was Nique and Schubert,” Kamehameha coach Dominic Pacheco said. “They were our one-two punch. We just wanted to leave the ball in Nique’s hands.”
In the fourth quarter, Schubert scored three straight baskets, the last for a 29-24 lead with 2:37 left.
Then Pacheco handled the ball, drew fouls and sank free throws, 4 of 6, the last for the final score.
Burdova fired a 3-point attempt with 27.8 remaining but it bounced off the back rim, and Pacheco drilled 1 of 2 free throws to close the game.
“It was a good, hard game by both teams,” HPA coach Lacey Hester said. “We had looks but they didn’t fall. We didn’t adjust like we wanted to. We wanted to limit their touches. Those two (Pacheco and Schubert) are tough competitors. That’s for sure.”
In the third quarter, Burdova nailed a 3-pointer to tie it 15-15, but Schubert and Pacheco immediately went to work. Schubert hit 1 of 2 from the free throw line and scored again. Then Pacheco scored and later made 1 of 2 free throws for a 23-19 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
In the first half, the game played to HPA’s tempo, nice and slow. Kamehameha forced too many shots but led 13-12 at halftime.
Pacheco came out blazing. She drove for a layup, missed, grabbed her own rebound and got the putback for the first score.
She later hit a 3-pointer and a layup at the first-quarter buzzer as Kamehameha outscored HPA 7-4 in the first eight minutes.
The most significant action for Ka Makani was Burdova picking up her second foul in the quarter. That put her on the bench and freshman Ali Wawner replaced her. Wawner hit a 3 and Hijiri Kanasugi hit 1 of 2 free throws.
The Warriors came out with a full-court press but pulled it back when Ka Makani easily broke it. HPA had 11 turnovers; Kamehameha had 12.
Then the Warriors got entry passes to Schubert, who established good position in the paint, went up strong and scored twice for a 13-9 lead.
Meanwhile, HPA kept working the ball for clean looks. Burdova re-entered in the second quarter and turned into a scoring machine with eight points. She hit a pair of free throws and two 3-pointers, the last to cut Kamehameha’s lead to 13-12 with 27 secondary left before halftime.
Pacheco also picked up her second personal foul with six minutes left until the break but she was able to play through foul trouble to lead Kamehameha to the BIIF title.