It’s not a typical weekend for the defending state champs, but the Konawaena Wildcats know work quite well.

With offseason tournaments on the continent and fine pink threads — and pink sneakers — to wear, there are expenses to cover. There’s also the usual trip to Oahu in preseason (‘Iolani Classic) and postseason (state tournament).

Between all the drills and scrimmages and coach Bobbie Awa’s insistence on proper defensive rotation, there’s this: her offseason club team setting up shop at football games and other events to sell tasty food to the masses. That’s life in high school athletics. Fundraise or stay home. So, the Wildcats/Stingrays set up a concession stand at the HI-PAL 3-on-3 tournament over the weekend at the Old Kona Airport Park.

"When the 5- and 7-year-olds play, some of us will officiate," Awa said before the weekend.

This is life for the Konawaena Wildcats, who have been ranked in the top five statewide for seemingly all of the past decade. In fact, since Dawnyelle Awa and Lia Galdeira arrived as freshmen to play for Awa’s mom, it’s been virtually No. 1 every week with one exception: the upset loss in the 2010 state final to a Lahainaluna squad powered by Maiki Viela (Gonzaga) and Milika Taufa (Indiana).

They’ve been No. 1 all season, now 5-0 in league play and 17-3 overall. All three losses, plus a win, came at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona during a flu-ridden week for the team. Two state titles in three years with a record of 100-8 during that span, and the ‘Cats are still hungry for another one in February.

Galdeira grew up in Waimea, an explosive, athletic standout among both girls and boys, before joining the Stingrays. As eighth-graders, Awa and Galdeira developed an on-court chemistry that continues today.

Awa has always been a top-notch defender in Konawaena’s halfcourt man-to-man scheme. It’s her vision from the point, delivering the timely bounce pass to a cutter like Courtney Kaupu or a midrange gunner like Makayla Awa, that makes the Wildcats so difficult to contain.

That was clear at the ‘Iolani Classic last month, when Awa was named most valuable player of the tourney. The most outstanding player? Who else? Galdeira played with a quiet fury, possibly still fueled by the memory of physical fouls the year before against eventual tourney champ Brea Olinda (Calif.). This time, she did the damage, amassing 64 points, 28 rebounds and 15 steals in wins over Bishop Gorman (Nev.), Oregon City and Brea Olinda. It was classic Lia, who watched Brea Olinda intently during the opening round, but denied having any special motivation for a rematch. The team that split her eyelid and bruised her badly in ’10 — sending her into the wall behind the basket several times — paid dearly. She had 15 points, six rebounds and four swipes in the tourney final.

That was a significant day for this season’s Wildcats. Underclassmen like Hoku Liftee and Makani Wall picked up the slack, and Kaupu stepped up and outplayed her foes in the post through the tourney.

The green machine was already humming when age-group phenoms Awa and Galdeira arrived on campus in ’08. In fact, Galdeira was already a legend on the Pop Warner football field.

But not everything went perfectly during that freshman year, even as Konawaena captured the state crown. After the tourney, the two standouts were invited to try out for Team Aloha, then-Mayor Mufi Hannemann’s select squad that traveled to a mainland tournament each spring. A committee of former coaches picked Galdeira to the 12-player roster.

Playing the role of a point guard, distributing and moving without the ball, Awa blended in at tryouts. The lack of assertiveness was something her mom had been concerned about. Awa didn’t make the cut, even though she’d been crucial to Konawaena’s state-title run.

That sting hasn’t gone away. Awa and Galdeira played on later Team Aloha squads coached by Fran Villarmia-Kahawai. The previous coach, longtime coach Dana Takahara-Dias, moved on to the University of Hawaii. When the Rainbow Wahine offered scholarships, Awa and Galdeira instead went with their only other offers — from Washington State. They signed with the Cougars in November.

Though it wasn’t Takahara-Dias alone who made the final decision on that 2009 Team Aloha roster, Awa and Galdeira never even made an official visit to UH.

"It’s hard to say. I think it stayed with Dawnyelle," Bobbie Awa said. "She didn’t say, ‘I’m not going to UH.’ I’m sure they would’ve loved to have played for the fans in Hawaii. But out of all that, I think Dawnyelle grew. She worked harder on her weaknesses."

So did the Wildcats, who are completely dominant in their division. Two weeks ago, they routed Kealakehe 108-11 and Laupahoehoe 107-3 despite sitting starters for huge minutes and employing nothing but halfcourt man and zone defenses.

"After the game, their AD (Hoku Haliniak of Laupahoehoe) said, ‘Thanks for showing good sportsmanship. You’re a classy coach,’ " coach Awa said.

Konawaena has an enrollment of roughly 900, but its dedication and commitment to basketball through Awa and husband Donald, who coaches the Wildcats boys, has been unbreakable for two decades now. Of all the basketball clubs that sprung up in 1992 when the county finally built Kekuaokalani Gym, none have survived except for the Stingrays.

"I don’t really compare it to Honolulu teams," Awa said of the regular-season schedule. "In the ILH and OIA, they’re working their butts off every game."

So are the Wildcats, even if that means manning the concession stand and refereeing little kids’ basketball games in the middle of the season. The Wildcats know work quite well.