Konawaena rolls to season opening win over Maryknoll

Brian Bautista | SL

In a word, balanced.

Konawaena was exacting and methodical in a 64-39 win over Maryknoll at the McKinley Black and Gold Classic.

Aaedyn Kauhi had 11 points and Mikela Salazar-Harrell added 10 to lead the Wildcats, who built an early 7-0 lead and never trailed, and freshman Shaileia Hookahi-Bannister was also a solid contributor, finishing with nine points and six rebounds.

"She's been working hard in practice and I think she's good at putting shots up with contact, so its going to be good for us," said Salazar-Harrell of Hookahi-Bannister.

The BIIF powerhouse had seven different players score at least six points and all but one player notch at least one assist in an impressive display for the first game of the preseason.

A squad with no seniors and four freshman listed on the roster showed a lot of continuity and patience, and to say that sharing was caring for Konawaena on offense would be an understatement, as they assisted on 12 of 16 baskets in the first half and 8 of 10 in the second. Leading the way statiscally was post Caysea Kaupu, who dished out six passes, a majority of those whilst operating on the low block.

"We've been practicing that a lot too," said Salazar-Harrell. "Because our team we all can shoot and she knows that and she's been passing really good."

The Wildcats stretched the margin to as large as 13 points in the first half on a basket by Kiilei Leleiwi that made it 35-23, and slowly but surely built a lead that eventually swelled to 27 midway through the fourth.

What's more, Konawaena subbed all five players on more than a few occasions in both halves, emptying the bench each time as only 10 players came over from the Big Island.

Pua Herrington, a Waiakea transfer, had a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds, but the Spartans were not able to get much going outside of her production.

"Since she played for Waiakea we kinda got the feel for how she plays, but I don't think we executed on defense as much as wanted to," remarked Salazar-Harrell.

The Wildcats seem to make the trip over just about annually for the Black and Gold, and value the level of competition that it brings.

"I think we try to take it pretty seriously here because we don't really have as much competition in the BIIF," said Salazar-Harrell. "Our competition is also in practice, we use that to try to help us prepare."

Up next for Kona are games versus Kamehameha on Friday and Iolani Saturday, while Marykoll continues its preseason tune-up with Campbell on Friday and Kalani on Saturday,