Warriors still feeling pain of state basketball loss to ‘Iolani

In more than four decades of girls basketball state championships, there was never a finish quite like this.

That’s what Frank Mauz says. The math teacher and former sportswriter was there for the very first HHSAA girls basketball state tournament, and in his recollection of great teams and games since 1977, the ‘Iolani-Kamehameha clash on Saturday night at Stan Sheriff Center tops every previous title game.

Or, at least the finish does.

“The four D-I, including a double-overtime, and one D-II overtime (title) game, were exciting,” Mauz said. “But nothing like this where the crowd was kept in suspense and even the score, 52 points for Kamehameha, was put up prematurely. This is why we love sports. Just when we’ve seen it all.”

Down 52-49, the Warriors got up an open 3 by Haley Masaki in the closing seconds, which fell short. Malie Marfil hustled for the ball, dribbled to the corner and passed to Kalina Obrey, who was roughly next to the scorer’s table on the left sideline. Her shot, a rainbow from 29 feet, would have been perfectly fine in another era, say the late 1980s, or the ’90s, when officials often went by the sound of the horn or buzzer rather than the final :00 on the scoreboard, which in some venues like Blaisdell Arena is out of the sight line for a referee focused on the shot and the rim.

Saturday’s title-game referees, two of them, signaled that the shot was released before time expired. But five minutes later, that call was reversed, leaving the Warriors flat-footed shocked, dismayed and broken-hearted.

‘Iolani, which got clutch shooting at the foul line down the stretch by Taylor Wu, Alexis Huntimer and Lily Lefotu Wahinekapu, celebrated on the hardwood in a pile of joy. The 23-year wait for a state crown was over.

Kamehameha is still in a state of shock. Coach Pua Straight couldn’t bring herself to talk about it immediately after the game. She finally took a look at those last seconds on Sunday night as she had dinner with her parents.

“I wasn’t ready to watch it yet. It was really quick, but a ref has to go with the buzzer, right? So I know in real time, I wasn’t sure if she got it off, but the ref right across from me put his hands up, which means the shot is good. You know if the shooter doesn’t get the shot off, they’ll signal it’s too late,” Straight said.

Kamehameha’s bench leaped up in celebration. Obrey didn’t see the footage of her shot until late Saturday night, watching it on TV at home.

“Well, it was hard to tell. The ref called it good, so we all were happy. He put his hands up and said it was good, so we thought it was good,” Obrey said.

“That’s when I started cheering, everyone starts cheering,” Straight said. “When his hands went up.”

Then came confirmation, or the hope for it among the Warriors.

“When Brandy (Richardson, lead referee) called us together initially to the middle, she said my two partners called the shot good and because we don’t have the luxury of replay, we’re going to add 4 minutes to the clock and play overtime,” Straight recalled. “But right after that, the guy with the headset at the table talked to her. She said we are able to review. It was an emotional roller coaster.”

Two referees went to the monitor across the court. At first, they said to each other, “It’s good. It’s good.” But with more video footage, they got a better view of the clock, the red light that flashes, and Obrey’s shot release.

“I could see she said, ‘It’s good.’ But as soon as she took the headset off and didn’t hold her hands up like the shot is good, aacch, my stomach just dropped,” Straight said.

Those five long minutes of review, of video scrutiny, show a crew of officials that handled it as well as any could. This was unprecedented in state championship game history. And then the final reveal, the ‘Iolani celebration and a Kamehameha team in disbelief.

Obrey and her team, in a bit of a twist, may go down as one that could’ve been and become the most memorable runner-up in tourney history. The senior, who will play at San Jose State next season, finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds. She doesn’t begrudge anyone or anything.

“They’re just doing their jobs. You can’t blame them for that,” Obrey said. “I just wish they hadn’t said it was good.”

“It was a rough way to go out,” Straight added. “But being able to play a game at this level, the atmosphere was crazy and loud. To be a part of that moment was surreal. They were chanting, ‘Let them play!’ I thought, holy cow, there were a lot of people here. Both teams had such an unreal showing, loving and respecting the game and each other.”

Obrey will keep working. She is bonded to her team forever. The news turned out bad, but in the process, she got to tell her teammates everything she wanted to say as they huddled tightly in those five minutes of waiting.

“I was telling them how proud of them I am, no matter what, keep your heads up,” she said. “It’s definitely something I’ll never forget.”