Big Island Warriors smother top-seeded Lancers

Defense doesn't just win championships -- it wins them handily.

Kamehameha-Hawaii suffocated Sacred Hearts' formidable transition game and ran a fluid running game of its own, as the Warriors routed the Lancers 57-30 in the Division II final of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Warriors muscled the smaller Lancers into 22.9 percent shooting from the field and forced 26 turnovers, taking the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champions out of their element with a combination of swiftness and physicality.

It was the second Division II title in three years for the Warriors, who also were the state runners-up last year, but the first with new coach Kalani Silva at the helm.

"These are the hardest-working girls I've ever had," Silva said. "They deserve everything they get right now."

A vocal contingent of about 50 Sacred Hearts fans couldn't rouse the Lancers back in the game after they fell behind by as many as 18 in the first half and 30 in the second. At the final horn, the Big Island Warriors mobbed each other at center court.

The tournament final was about as competitive for the Warriors as the rest of their three victories -- they ended up with an average winning point differential of 14 at states.

After a dominant first half in which Kamehameha-Hawaii doubled up Sacred Hearts 32-16, the Warriors extinguished all doubt in the third. They went on a 9-1 run to open the quarter, withstood a 5-0 spurt by Sacred Hearts to open the fourth, and punished the Lancers with a definitive 13-2 run to push the lead to 54-24 with a little more than 3 minutes left.

With senior Sierra Gacayan (nine assists) running the Warriors' offense efficiently and tournament Most Outstanding Player Tabitha Eseroma cleaning up defensively with nine points and 11 rebounds, everything else fell into place. Kozy Toriano scored 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting and Ashlee Kalauli had a game-high 14.

"We're sisters. Once we step on the court, everything comes together," said Gacayan, who was a sixth man on the Warriors' last title team. She helped guide the Warriors to 51.1 percent shooting.

Despite lacking a tournament seed as the Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up, Kamehameha-Hawaii (15-3) played fresher and faster than a top-seeded and previously undefeated Lancer team (15-1) that had earned a first-round bye.

Eseroma, a 5-foot-6 junior forward, ticked off the team's numerous running drills as she explained their endurance.

"I'm not that tall, and I have to work on something," Eseroma continued. "Because I'm strong, I can pull the rebounds to me and my players."

Lancers coach Alan Matsui said he knew what the Warriors would do -- they just played a whole lot bigger than his team.

"I expected them to fullcourt press. It's the same press that we run," Matsui said. "They're just a lot more physical than we are. They bump you and knock you to the floor, make sure you can't get up to help."

The fate of Sacred Hearts, in its first year as an ILH Division II team, may already be up in the air. Matsui believes his school's first year there was a resounding success -- but added that his team has been summoned back to Division I because of it.

"It's like 99 percent (a done deal)," Matsui said. "I'm just hoping they see fit to allow us to (go to Division II) once every few years."