HILO — During halftime of Wednesday’s KTA/BIIF Division II Girls Basketball Championship, the Kohala Cowgirls found themselves in a hole they needed to dig out of.
Down 28-18 at the midway point against No. 1 seed Kamehameha-Hawaii, the third-seeded black and gold knew they had their work cut out for them in the second half — especially given the fact that Kohala previously lost twice to the Lady Warriors this season.
Nonetheless, the Cowgirls kept the faith.
“We kept reminding them that it’s not over until the last buzzer sounds,” Kohala head coach Beau Cazimero told the paper postgame.
Once the second half began at Hilo Civic, Cazimero and the rest of the staff elected to change defensive coverages into a zone — mainly due to Kamehameha having its way with the Cowgirls’ man-to-man schemes in the first half. The Lady Warriors soon began to struggle offensively, which created opportunities for Kohala to slowly claw its way back into the game.
“(Kamehameha) couldn’t counter our zone, so we decided to use it for the rest of the game,” Cazimero continued.
Thanks to the in-game adjustment, the Cowgirls out-scored the Lady Warriors 22-11 in the third quarter, which set the tone for the rest of the night. After a back-and-forth fourth quarter, Kohala was able to escape with a 55-51 win — clinching their second consecutive BIIF title after winning their first since 1991 a year ago.
“It was awesome; they never gave up,” said Cazimero, who is a first-year head coach for the Cowgirls. “They’re a very good defensive team, and they never give up.”
Kohala small forward AJ Soriano, who leads the team in scoring at nearly 17 points per game, saved her best performance of the year for last — dropping a season-high 25 points to give the Cowgirls a much-needed scoring punch.
Cazimero praised Soriano’s leadership on and off the court in 2025-26, pointing to her presence as one of the main factors for the Cowgirls’ success.
“She’s our senior leader,” he said of Soriano. “She’s been doing really well, knocking down shots in big games.”
Teammate Chawai Dunhour added 18 points for Kohala, while Halia Perez-Bobek scored eight.
“(Dunhour) had a huge game for us with her rebounding and put-back,” Cazimero said. “As well as (Perez-Bobek) on both sides of the ball.”
Cazimero also pointed to guard Loryn Rose-Carvalho, who added four points but was a force defensively.
“(Carvalho) has been giving us some good minutes,” he said. “She got injured a few weeks back, which forced her to miss a few games. So we started bringing her off the bench, and she gave us some great minutes defensively.”
The rest of the black and gold’s roster consists of Raine Cazimero, Jojo Vernes, Mele Cazimero, Ilima Napoleon and Kaleilani Ancheta-DeMello.
Beau Cazimero also thanked his current coaching staff — Chance Pang and his wife Chasity Cazimero — for helping him along the way in his first season at the helm. The head coach also shouted out past coaches Lawrence Kauka, Reeve Cazimero, Mana Pasco Renee Bautista and Brandon Bautista for setting the bar for the program.
The Cowgirls finished the BIIF season 7-5 and 8-6 overall, averaging nearly 46 points per game. Now on a three-game win streak, Kohala plans to continue riding the momentum — but acknowledges that the upcoming state tournament won’t be easy.
“We need to improve on taking care of the ball, limiting turnovers, playing hard defense and finishing at the basket,” Beau Cazimero said of things the Cowgirls will work on over the next few days. “They’re excited, and they’re starting to mentally prepare after last night.”
Kamehameha dropped to 13-8 overall and ended 8-3 against BIIF competition after winning its previous seven games. Shailan Benevides, who averages 12 points per game, led the Lady Warriors with 18 points. Teammate Hereiti Delenia scored 11 points, while Peyton Kalai added 10.
So far in 2025-26, Kamehameha averages over 39 points per game. Like the Cowgirls, the Lady Warriors will also play in the DII state tournament.
As of Thursday afternoon, the HHSAA Division II tournament bracket has yet to be released.
See Saturday’s paper to read coverage on the CPB/BIIF Division I Girls Basketball Championship.
