Ka’u High learned what some of the other smaller Division II schools already new about Christian Liberty: pay attention to Kamille Febo-Santiago.
Febo-Santiago scored 22 points Tuesday night in pushing the Canefire to their first victory, 37-34 in a BIIF girls postseason preview in Pahala.
The teams will play again Saturday in the the opening game of the playoffs, with the winner moving on to face either Kohala or Honokaa on Monday in the first round.
Led by Febo-Santiago, the Canefire (1-6) had come close to victory before. The junior scored 26 in a one-point loss at Kohala, and she put up 27 in a loss at Pahoa. This time Christian Liberty pulled through, jumping out to a 23-17 lead at halftime. Audrey Akina-Makaneole added seven points.
Heidi Vidal led the Trojans (1-7) with 14 points, Tyra Wong Yuen collected 10 and Grace Smith had six.
Kamehameha 60, Honokaa 22: Maela Honma and Keanu Huihui each carried the load with 22 points at Koia’a Gym as the Warriors improved to 4-3.
The Dragons (1-3), who trailed 36-13 at halftime, have two more games this week as they try to lock down a home playoff game. Kohala (2-5) also is in contention for the West’s No. 2 seed, though Honokaa owns the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Keaau 39, Pahoa 17: Aubrey Miyasato led a balanced scoring effort with seven points in the Cougars’ road win.
In all, 10 different players scored for Keaau (3-4), which plays at Waiakea on Thursday before taking on powerhouse Konawaena on Monday in the BIIF Division I semifinals.
Jaylynn Kaawaloa-Alidon scored six for the Daggers, who close out with Honokaa at home on Thursday. Pahoa will have a a home playoff game Monday against either the Dragons or Cowboys.
Kealakehe 48, Kohala 31: Peyton Haleamau scored 13 points in Kapaau and Kylea Mederios chipped in with 11 as the Waveriders evened their record at 2-2.
Kealakehe, which hadn’t played in 15 days, hosts Waiakea on Friday in a regular-season finale.
Camille Fuertes led all scorers with 17 points for the Cowgirls, who play at Kamehameha on Friday to cap the regular season.
Boys
Kamehameha 47, Kealakehe 24: The Warriors (4-1) won at home and remained undefeated against Division I teams, which will be the metric used for seeding purposes.
The Waveriders, who trailed 47-24 at halftime, remained winless at 0-4.