KAILUA-KONA – With the name Coby Molina, how could Konawaena go wrong?
With the games Kahiau Holzgrove, Kainoa “Boo” Jones, Joah Gacayan, Elisha Martin, Aldrin Gadot and Kamaehu Makanui also showcased in the BIIF Division I boys basketball semifinals, the Wildcats certainly weren’t going to.
“I don’t know that anybody had a bad game,” coach Donny Awa. “We rotated seven in, and they all had a good game.”
Playing their best basketball of the season on both ends of the court at the absolute best time Tuesday, No. 4 Konawaena cruised past top-seeded Waiakea 66-50 at Kealakehe High School, reaching the championship game for the seventh time in eight seasons.
“I think they were overlooking us,” said Jones, an athletic junior guard who scored 10 points. “We lost to Waiakea bad (61-46 on Dec. 23 in Hilo). They thought we were going to come in and get smashed.
“My mindset was this is our house. This used to be my school. I took it as my own field. My mindset was I was going to get to the rim.”
The Wildcats made themselves at home in front of a pro-Konawaena crowd, showing uncanny balance: all seven of their players produced between 13 and eight points.
“We executed,” said Holzgrove, who scored eight points with five rebounds. “They rose up, and we all finished and stepped up big-time.”
The Warriors (10-3) were out of sync from the start, shooting just 34%, including 2 of 16 from 3-point range. Keegan Scanlan scored 21 points and Kiai Apele had 15, but trailing by nine at halftime, Waiakea missed its first eight shots of the third quarter, fell behind by as many as 19 and never recovered.
As the outright regular season champion, Waiakea’s state berth was secure. It will host a first-round game Feb. 17.
“People have to understand, we’re not as good as everybody thinks,” said Waiakea coach Paul Lee, whose team had won three of the past four BIIF titles. “We’re not deep, we just played above our abilities all season.”
Konawaena (9-5) has won five in a row and a sixth in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. final against Kamehameha (9-4) would give the Wildcats their first title since 2015 and state tournament berth, after a one-year absence.
Molina enjoyed a coming-out party, leading the way with 13 points, including three 3-pointers in the first half.
Yes, the freshman is that Molina — his three older sisters (Chanelle, Celena and Cherilyn) are practically Konawaena royalty, leading the girls basketball team to four state titles.
“He’s got big shoes to fill,” Awa said with a smile.
As Waiakea opened the second half on a cold spell, Konawaena played some its best basketball.
Holzgrove (eight points, five rebounds) swatted a shot by Scanlan and bolted to the other end of the floor and hit a jumper, then Jones hustled for a rebound, leading to a 3-pointer by Gacayan (nine points) to give the Wildcats their largest lead at 43-24.
“When Boo is in attack mode and attacking the rim, he’s special,” Awa said.
Jones wasn’t alone.
Gadot added eight points and team-highs of seven rebounds and five assists, Martin produced nine points and six boards and Makanui had nine points and five boards. Konawaena shot 48.2% from the floor.
“Everybody had their good games during the regular season, but tonight we came together,” Jones said.
And Konawaena flashed its new-found chemistry early, never trailing after Molina hit a 3-pointer a little more than a minute into the game.
Molina’s third 3-pointer boosted Konawaena’s lead to six late in the first half, and Gacayan’s triple near the buzzer drew a roar from the Wildcats’ faithful, who basked in a 29-20 halftime lead.
When Konawaena left Kealakehe’s gym Jan. 22 after a 39-33 loss to the Waveriders, they were 4-5, searching for answers and in danger of missing the playoffs. The Wildcats return Wednesday, they’ll be searching for a championship.
“We felt we needed to pick up our game,” Holzgrove said, “and we were inspired to come out work through it.”