Kamehameha-Hawaii powers to victory
Kamehameha-Hawaii's Katelynne Paleka-Kennedy shot over Maryknoll's Trinity Alualu last night. Paleka-Kennedy had 17 points and 20 rebounds.
Maryknoll faced a tough climb in its attempt to come back from an early double-digit deficit against Kamehameha-Hawaii.
A task made even taller by the presence of 6-foot-3 Katelynne Paleka-Kennedy in the post.
After Maryknoll had trimmed a 16-point Kamehameha-Hawaii lead to seven entering the final period, Paleka-Kennedy helped turn away the threat in a 56-39 win that sent the third-seeded Warriors to the Division II final of the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawaii High School Athletic Association girls basketball state championship.
"This was our ultimate goal," Paleka-Kennedy said after the Warriors earned the program’s fifth appearance in the D-II title game in the past seven years. "We work all year for these three games."
Paleka-Kennedy finished yesterday’s semifinal victory over the Spartans with 17 points, 20 rebounds and five blocked shots and guard Namele Naipo-Arsiga provided an outside complement with 17 points at Farrington’s Kitamura Gym.
The Warriors, who claimed the title in 2005 and 2007, will play in the championship game today at 5 p.m. at Blaisdell Arena.
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Kamehameha-Hawaii bolted to a 12-0 lead to open the game and maintained a relatively comfortable cushion for most of the first half. But Maryknoll, sparked by the return of All-State guard Ashley Agcaoili, chipped away and closed to within six in the final minute of the third quarter.
That’s when Kamehameha-Hawaii coach Garrett Arima sent Paleka-Kennedy back to the floor with a last bit of inspiration.
"I said, ‘own the boards, that’s your paint, that’s your house, take care of it,’ " Arima said.
The senior responded by scoring the Warriors’ first six points of the fourth quarter and blocked two shots in the opening moments as Kamehameha-Hawaii pulled away with a 14-4 spurt.
Maryknoll, which has just one player taller than 5 feet 7, tried to swarm Paleka-Kennedy in the post at times, but she was often able to pass out of the double teams to find open shooters.
"We said don’t force anything, take care of the ball and she did a really good job," Arima said.
"She’s tough," Maryknoll coach Steven Caley said. "We couldn’t really compete with her and the difference with her is she hits her free throws. You can’t really do the ‘hack-a-Shaq’ on her. She was getting a lot of big rebounds and she was a dominant presence.
"She’s a good player and they’ve got guards who can shoot it from outside so they’re tough to prepare for."
The Warriors set the tone from the perimeter when Keana Kaohimaunu hit a 3-pointer on the game’s opening possession and their backcourt pressure fueled the 12-0 run to start the game.
"All year we relied on our halfcourt trap, that’s been our bread and butter and we weren’t going to change anything," Arima said. "We knew Maryknoll had great guards and hoped we could turn turnovers into baskets and we were able to do that."
Maryknoll, which upset second-seeded Molokai on Wednesday, finally got on the board at the 2:55 mark of the first quarter when Agcaoili entered the game and hit back-to-back pull-up jumpers.
Agcaoili had surgery on an injured finger two weeks ago and saw her first action in 16 days with her left (shooting) hand heavily taped. She led the Spartans with 12 points, but the Spartans couldn’t get over the hump in their comeback attempt.
"She was little rusty but in a game like this, she’s a competitor she wanted to compete," Caley said. "She’s a senior and I wanted to give my seniors a chance to pay in the championship game or go down fighting."
| Maryknoll (13-3) | 6 | 10 | 13 | 10 | — | 39 |
| KS-Hawaii (13-4) | 16 | 9 | 11 | 20 | — | 56 |
MARYKNOLL–Amanda Busmente 0, Taylor Wong 2, Kimiko Mitchell 2, Ashley Agcaoili 12, Alexis Villa 5, Ciana Ochoco 1, Ashlee DeSantos 6, Athena Adora 8, Trinity Alualu 3.
KS-HAWAII–Casey Poe 4, Chelsea Poe 11, Namele Naipo-Arsiga 15, Shaila Apele 0, Keana Kaohimaunu 5, Ka’ina Mossman 0, Bobbi Montibon 0, Shaylyn Kahawai 4, Katelynne Paleka-Kennedy 17.
3-point goals–Maryknoll none. KS-Hawaii 1 (Kaohimaunu).
Radford 44, Kapaa 31
A night after surviving an overtime battle, it looked like the Rams might be in for another tight struggle.
But after going down 22-20 early in the third quarter, Radford closed the period with a 13-1 run to take control and advanced to a state championship for the first time in the program’s history.
"This is big," Radford coach Tani Almont-Done said "The girls worked really hard for this. I’m glad we’re continuing a tradition at Radford in basketball. From Coach (Jim) Alegre on, it’s there. So bringing it back is really great."
Top-seeded Radford pulled out a 47-45 overtime win over Hawaii Prep on Wednesday and went into halftime tied at 18 last night. Kapaa took a 22-20 lead when Mahea Hanie-Grace, who led the Warriors with 12 points, grabbed a rebound and raced to a layup at the 6:22 mark of the third quarter.
That would be the Warriors’ last field goal until the 2:45 mark of the fourth period. By then, the Rams had opened up a lead that grew to as many as 14.
Jemory Castro led Radford with a game-high 16 points and Kelsey Bash hit a 3-pointer to open an 17-1 run bridging the third and fourth quarters. Bash finished with 10 points and five assists.
Korie Johnson added eight points and 10 rebounds.
"We had a repeat perfomance from last night," Almont-Done said of the first half. "I almost gave the same speech in the locker room. ‘You guys want this, you gotta dig deep. That’s what it comes down to in the state tournament.
"Our defense has brought us this far so as long as they don’t put any points on the board we’ll be OK."
At Kitamura gym
| Kapaa (11-4) | 8 | 10 | 5 | 8 | — | 31 |
| Radford (16-0) | 12 | 6 | 15 | 11 | — | 44 |
KAPAA–Raquelle Matayoshi 0, Kaanoi Marshall 2, Kekai Gonsalves 0, Reggie McCabe 4, Mahea Hanie-Grace 12, Jessilyn Aki 11, Katalina Fifita 2.
RADFORD–Imani Wimbush 9, E’Lexeus Evans 0, Rachel Kapesi 3, Tyler Whitener 0, Kelsey Bash 10, Korie Johnson 8, Jemory Castro 14.
3-point goals–Kapaa none. Radford 1 (Bash).
Hawaii Prep 45, Hawaii Baptist 35
Leahi Lindsey tallied 16 points to lead Ka Makani over the Eagles. Katie Ho scored seven points for Hawaii Prep, while Kimberly Au led Hawaii Baptist with eight points.
At Kaimuki gym
| HPA (11-6) | 11 | 11 | 10 | 13 | — | 45 |
| HBA (13-3) | 10 | 5 | 9 | 11 | — | 35 |
HAWAII PREP–Tara Gaumer 4, Leahi Lindsey 16, Nani Lum 6, Katie Ho 7, Tiana Tabac 3, Chancis Fernandez 6, Lana Queen 3.
HAWAII BAPTIST–Kanoelani Yadao 0, Natasha Travens 6, Amber Au 6, Rebecca Dang 0, Kimberly Au 8, Jennifer Uehara 7, Reana Lee 5, Jami-Lynn Grumling 1, Kayla Yamamoto 0, Chazley Baitlon 1, Lauren Sumida 1.
3-point goals–Hawaii Prep 1 (Lindsey). Hawaii Baptist 2 (Au 2).
University 45, Molokai 29
Chanelle Maldonado nailed four 3-pointers and racked up 21 points in the Junior ‘Bows’ win over the Farmers. Molokai’s Kalei Adolpho scored a team-high 19 points.
At Kaimuki gym
| Molokai (12-2) | 8 | 4 | 8 | 9 | — | 29 |
| Uhs (13-3) | 6 | 16 | 3 | 20 | — | 45 |
MOLOKAI–Karley Kaulili 0, Tiara English 0, Kaira Kaulia-Makaiwi 0, Camille Borden 0, Shaniah Mollena-Lopez 0, Amanda Venegas Makaiwi 2, Kyli Joe Mawae 4, Marissa Sterner 4, Tyra Mollena-Lopez 0, Kalei Adolpho 19, Ilana Meyer 0, Brianna Tangonan 0.
UNIVERSITY–Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence 1, Kassandra Sanchez 0, Kianalei Machida 8, Quynne Eharis 12, Quirena Natividad 0, Skyler Chun-Ming 0, Crystal Wang 3, Chanelle Maldonado 21, Ashlee Ai 0.
3-point goals–Molokai none. University 5 (Maldonado 4, Wang).
Kalani 49, Hanalani 48
Taylor Murai’s 3-pointer with 12 seconds to play gave the Falcons a one-point victory in the consolation championship.
At Kaimuki gym
| Kalani (14-5) | 10 | 6 | 11 | 22 | — | 49 |
| Hanalani (10-8) | 13 | 15 | 13 | 7 | — | 48 |
KALANI–Kimberly Sakamoto 0, Carly Kakuda 8, Corie Kuia 23, Rose Alama 2, Haley Omiya 0, Taylor Murai 8, Alex Salas 0, Toetofi Taifai 0, Kaiana Iaea 6, Marissa Sumida 0, Teu Tetelo 0, Tiani Maafala 0, Maria Tetelo 0 Alex Rogers 2.
HANALANI–Kira Oyama 9, Sarah Hyde 8, Kimberly Feng 2, Jessica Clanton 10, Nicole Gonzalez 9, Ashley Stamm 2, Sarah Liva 8.
3-point goals–Kalani 5 (Kuia 3, Murai 2). Hanalani 2 (Clanton 2).
STATE GIRLS BASKETBALL DIVISION II
Yesterday
At Farrington, Kaimuki
Consolation championship
» Kalani 49, Hanalani 48
Losers’ bracket
» Hawaii Prep 45, Hawaii Baptist 35
» University 45, Molokai 29
Semifinals
» Radford 44, Kapaa 31
» Kamehameha-Hawaii 56, Maryknoll 39
Today
At Blaisdell
Fifth place, 9 a.m.
» Hawaii Prep vs. University
Third place, 11 a.m.
» Maryknoll vs. Kapaa
Championship, 5 p.m.
» Radford vs. Kamehameha-Hawaii
