KEAAU – For Hawaii Prep’s first big test of the season, veteran coach Greg Dunigan was thankful sophomore point guard Brooke Samura was a tad more composed than he was.
Samura scored eight of her 17 points in the fourth quarter Saturday, and Ka Makani came away with a 30-27 victory at Kamehameha as a matchup between the presumptive BIIF Division II basketball favorites morphed into defensive battle.
“Today is the most she’s been in control,” Dunigan said.
As for himself? Not as much.
“The biggest thing for me is to relax, I think they are more relaxed,” he said. “I think I got them going a little. I’m pretty intense, and I think that bothered us. I think the things we need to get better on is me getting better.”
Samura had her coach’s back, especially after senior Kyana Brucelas fouled out after scoring eight points on the inside.
“I think (Kamehameha) is our biggest competition for BIIFs,” Samura said, “and it was good to see how we would act under pressure.”
The Warriors’ Maela Honma looked on the verge of taking over with three consecutive baskets spanning the third and fourth quarters until Samura hit a 3-pointer to give HPA (4-0) the lead. She followed that up with a three-point play, and her last basket – which sandwiched Brucelas’ bucket – capped a 10-run that staked Ka Makani to a 30-22 lead. They were able to protect it as Kamehameha (3-2) misfired at the free-throw line.
“I haven’t taken much opportunities in other games to really drive to the basket, so I kind of took advantage of their weakside (defense),” Samura said.
Honma scored 18 points before fouling out. Trailing by three with 13.1 seconds remaining, Kamehameha called time out and got a decent look, but a 3-pointer was off, as was a desperation attempt at the buzzer.
Each team had four players score and combined to make two 3-pointers (Baeleigh Lukzen had one for Kamehameha). The Warriors used seven players, a vast improvement than the five they had available in their first loss, at Waiakea.
“The way things are going in practice, it’s hard to get five people and try to accomplish game situations,” Kamehameha coach Dominic Pacheco said. “But hats off to our kids and hats off to HPA, because everybody is going through the same thing.”
To begin the second half, Kamehameha was called for an erroneous violation when a referee briefly mistook the half-court line for one of the other lines drawn at the multipurpose gym. It was a light-hearted moment and an understandable one, because Kamehameha committed turnovers all game long, 26 in all and 15 in the first half.
“They did everything we asked them to do defensively,” Dunigan said. “They have three very goods scorers, you’re not going to stop them every time.”
Kaila Kaahu had a steal and layup, finishing with four points for HPA, and Samura followed suit with a similar play in the third quarter.
The Warriors used their size advantage to get HPA into foul trouble and reach the free-thrown line, but they couldn’t convert, making just 12 of 24. They were just 1 of 7 in the fourth. Keanu Huihui finished with four points. Honma was a bright spot for her team at the line, going 6 of 8.
“It’s hard to win if you can’t hit free throws,” Pacheco said. “If we hit those one-and-ones, the game is a lot different.”
It was 9-9 in the second quarter, when Ka Makani had a five-point trip down the court thanks to a technical foul on a Kamehameha’s coaches. Samura went 4 for 4 from the line, and Ali Wawner was 1 of 2.
The morning game came before an afternoon contest that saw HPA beat Christian Liberty 49-7.
Samura said HPA had to adjust when Kamehameha installed a 1-2-2 half-court press, and she wouldn’t be surprised at all to see it again when the stakes are higher.
“I think now that we now how Kamehameha plays, if we do play them again, hopefully, we’ll come more prepared,” Samura said.
