In 2019, the Waiakea girls basketball team pulled off Mission Impossible: beating Konawaena, not only during the regular season but also ending the Wildcats’ 10-year BIIF title run.
Most of those Warriors are gone, including BIIF player of the year Kelsie Imai, who’s playing for the Rainbow Wahine, Keeli-Jade Smith, Tayvia Cabatbat, Bethany Honma, Keighsha Walker and Jazelle Dorser.
However, second-year coach Alika Smith welcomes back four promising players in sophomores Jolie Mantz, Maya Kaneshiro, Avery Snyder and Hannah Iwahiro. The other starter is senior Taysia Rocha, a volleyball player.
Waiakea cruised past Christian Liberty 73-8 in a BIIF game Friday night at the Warriors Gym, where a couple of familiar names stole the spotlight.
“They’re young and work hard. That’s all you can ask for. It’s a learning process,” Smith said. “It’s going to take us a little while, but they like to share the ball. That’s a good thing. When you want someone else to succeed, that’s what basketball is all about.”
Mantz, a 5-foot-6 guard, scored 24 points, hitting six 3-pointers, and Kaneshiro, a 5-3 guard and the daughter of UH-Hilo women’s coach David Kaneshiro, scored 12 points and grabbed six steals for the Warriors (1-0), who bolted to a 22-0 lead in the first quarter.
“I was kind of nervous but really excited to be back after not having a season freshman year,” Kaneshiro said.
Ava Santos, a 5-8 sophomore forward, came off the bench and added 12 points on putbacks, Snyder, a 5-8 forward, soared for nine points, and Rocha scored eight points for Waiakea, which had four turnovers, all in the fourth quarter.
Junior point guard Kamille Febo-Santiago hit a pair of 3-pointers for the Canefire (0-1), who had 37 turnovers and trailed 41-2 at halftime, which soon kick started the running clock in the third quarter.
It’s obvious that the Warriors play club ball and share very good basketball bloodlines.
Mantz has a shooting stroke that looks similar to her sister Jordyn, a 2018 Kamehameha graduate, who won a Division II state title and is now playing at Lake Erie College, a Division II school in Ohio.
“She can shoot the ball. If she can be consistent like that we’re going to be all right,” Smith said. “Maya has good leadership skills. They’re all sophomores, so this was their first time playing high school. The first couple of possessions they were all nervous. As they get their footing, they’re going to be tough.”
Iwahiro’s sister, Sara, is a 2019 Waiakea hoopster and graduate. Iwahiro plays on coach Clayton Honma and James Lukzen’s Fly Girlz club team, which includes teammates Mantz, Kaneshiro, Santos, and Snyder, and Kamehameha’s Maela Honma and Baeleigh Lukzen.
“I learned a lot from coach Honma and Lukzen and fine-tuned with my dad,” Kaneshiro said. “I’ve been to at least four Vulcan camps. We always play together. Everybody is always willing to lift each other up. When we first started, we’ve definitely grown and gotten a lot closer.”
The nice thing is all the Warriors bring different tools to the table. Mantz and Kaneshiro are good deep-ball threats while Snyder is athletic, can run the floor and score in the paint. Santos knows how to position herself in the post for rebounds and putbacks. Rocha’s volleyball skills for jumping and adjusting her body in the air help her get soft touches around the rim. Iwahiro is a solid ball-handler.
The Warriors already have a built-in chemistry for ball-sharing when running a fast-break in transition and trapping to force turnovers.
Until the Canefire show that they can break the press and score, which they couldn’t accomplish against the Warriors, they could be vulnerable to BIIF teams applying ball pressure or traps. Febo-Santiago was the only Canefire who showed she could dribble with both hands with her head up and survive Waiakea’s trapping pressure.
As usual, the road to a BIIF Division I championship goes through Konawaena, which won the title over Waiakea in 2020.
Brandon Kauhi coached Waiakea’s historic 2019 BIIF title team, and now his daughter, Braelyn, a junior forward, is one of the stars for the Wildcats, who have battled depth issues for years but find a way to win.
The Wildcats also will be led by senior guards Kaliana Salazar Harrrell, Juliana Losalio-Watson and Kayla Pak.
Hilo returns three solid starters in senior forward Keirstyn Agonias, a two-time All-BIIF first team pick, senior guard Veda Galima and junior forward Kalea Harris. Two of Waiakea’s former guards, sisters Ayana and Alexa Meyer (daughters of former Honokaa coach Cheyenne Meyer), transferred to Hilo.
The Vikings last went to states in 2017 during the reign of the Kawaha sisters, Mandi and Mindy, who are now playing at UH-Hilo. Hilo’s last BIIF championship was in 1996.
In the Three Degrees of Kevin Bacon, the Kawaha sisters play for David Kaneshiro, the dad of Maya Kaneshiro, who’s a leading part of Waiakea’s young resurgence.