ILH GIRLS BASKETBALL
Kamehameha pulls out win over Mid-Pac
Despite letting a big lead slip away, Kamehameha kept a grip on its state-tournament hopes by pulling out a 45-43 win over Mid-Pacific in the semifinals of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu tournament last night at McCabe Gym.
The sixth-ranked Warriors went without a field goal over the final 6:58 of the game as MPI erased a 13-point deficit and took a 43-41 advantage with 1:21 left. But Kamehameha hit four free throws down the stretch to reclaim the lead and save its season.
"We lost concentration," Kamehameha coach Clay Cockett said. "We didn't take care of business. Mid-Pac did a great job applying so much pressure and we weren't tough enough to handle the ball."
Kamehameha (7-4) survives to face No. 2 Iolani tomorrow at McCabe Gym for the tournament title and the ILH's second berth to the Division I state tournament. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.
"It's live or die right now," said Kamehameha senior Tatriana Lorenzo, who scored a team-high 15 points.
Freshman Alexis Furtado hit three 3-pointers on her way to 11 points to lead a solid effort by the Warrior reserves, as Kamehameha's bench outscored MPI's 18-0.
Kristina Lin scored 16 points to lead MPI (6-5), while forward Meghan Laughlin added 13. Freshman Johnelle Kapua finished with nine points and had a shot to tie the game in the final seconds. But her baseline jumper rimmed out just before the buzzer.
"It shows a lot of character by our girls and I'm real proud of them," MPI coach Byron Cheng said. "Hat's off to Kamehameha, they deserved to win it. If we had 30 more seconds I think we could have done it.
"(Kapua's) a 15-year-old freshman and she's putting up the shot of our season. For her to take that shot shows the kind of player she is."
Trailing 41-28 with 6:58 left, MPI turned to a full-court press to fuel its comeback. The Owls went 10-for-12 from the free-throw line during their run and closed to 41-39 when a 3-pointer by Lin bounced through the net. They took their first lead since the first quarter when Keri Nakamura calmly drained two foul shots at the 1:21 mark.
"We had to come out on them because we knew Kamehameha was going to pull it out," Cheng said. "All we needed was one score and when we got that one score we went with a full-court press, and I think we got them a little rattled.
"But with (Lorenzo) in there, she's so seasoned she'll get her team calm and she'll come through down the stretch."
Kamehameha's Johanna Sai was fouled as she took the inbounds pass and made two free throws with 1:19 left to tie the game. Analee Viena Lota and Lorenzo made one free throw each to give the Warriors a two-point cushion, and they held on when Kapua's shot stayed out of the net.
At McCabe Gym
Kamehameha (7-4) |
5 |
17 |
15 |
8 |
-- |
45 |
Mid-Pacific (4-7) |
6 |
11 |
8 |
18 |
-- |
43 |
KAMEHAMEHA--Miki Nakamura 0, Alexis Furtado 11, Johanna Sai 7, Analee Viena Lota 1, Leah Godinet 4, Rhani Kaneaiakala 2, Kauiokeola Todd 5, Tatriana Lorenzo 15.
MID-PACIFIC--Keri Nakamura 2, Yuki Sei 0, Johnnelle Kapua 9, Meghan Laughlin 13, Kristina Lin 16, Kylee Pedro 0, Crisi Nihipali 3.
3-point goals -- Kamehameha 3 (Furtado 3), Mid-Pacific 4 (Lin 3, Laughlin).
No. 2 Iolani 66, Maryknoll 21
The Raiders shook off a disappointing end to the regular season to rout the Spartans and advance to the tournament final.
Chanel Hirata hit three 3-pointers to lead a balanced Iolani attack with 13 points. Megan Burton came off the bench to finish with 10 and guard Hennasea-Sue Tokumura had nine for the Raiders, who lost to Punahou twice last week to fall into the second-place tournament.
"We just tried to put the loss behind us, but use it to motivate us to play the next game," Tokumura said. "We have to go the hard way into states, so every win means that much more to us."
At McCabe Gym
Iolani (9-3) |
10 |
20 |
24 |
12 |
-- |
66 |
Maryknoll (2-9) |
8 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
-- |
21 |
IOLANI-- Kaz Masutani 2, Chelsea Unemori 0, Hennasea-Sue Tokumura 9, Alana Matayoshi 2, Chanel Hirata 13, Marci Kang 4, Alana Wall 5, Jamie Smith 8, Meilin Akamu 2, Sarah Turgeon 5, Keilyn Fujioka 6, Megan Burton 10.
MARYKNOLL-- Kristen Canencia 3, Kristie Watanabe 0, Bowha Kang 2, Nicole Fu 12, Amanda Macadangdang 0, Joni Wong 2, Kimberly Henderson 0, Melissa Ching 0, Samantha Chung 2.
3-point goals -- Iolani 5 (Hirata 3, Tokumura, Wall), Maryknoll 3 (Fu 2, Canencia).
ILH Division II varsity girls
Christian Academy 60, St. Andrew's 58
St. Francis 66, Lutheran 42
Hawaii Baptist 56, Hanalani 39
Word of Life 50, University 29
High scorers--CA:Ashley Medcalf 42, Michelle Chon 10.StAn:Kellee Tom 21, Minna Watanabe 19.StF: Suititi Takai 16.Luth: Keri Wakabayashi 17, Desiree Joaquim 17.HBA: Janine Diehl 15, Jodi Kamemoto 10.Han:Janelle Fetui 17.WOL: Careena Onosai 21.UHS:Brennan Clark 7.