Wed, Feb 11, 2015 @ McKinley

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Punahou

37

Konawaena

51

Final	1	2	3	4
Punahou (9-4, 13-7)	13	7	5	12	37
Konawaena (12-0, 28-1)	9	11	14	17	51

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

Chanelle Molina 16 pts  6/9 FTs

Elle Uyeda 11 pts  3 3pm  0/1 FTs

Celena Molina 11 tot  5 off  6 def

Vae Malufau 9 tot  2 off  7 def

Chanelle Molina 3 ast

Tyra Moe 3 ast

Konawaena's Cherilyn Molina puts up a layup shot against Punahou. Evan Asato | SL

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Konawaena's Cherilyn Molina puts up a layup shot against Punahou. Evan Asato | SL

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A new champion will be crowned in Division I girls basketball.

Chanelle Molina scored 16 points and Cherilyn Molina added 10 to lead Konawaena to a 51-37 win over defending-champion Punahou in a quarterfinal-round game of the New City Nissan/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Girls Basketball State Championships Wednesday night.

The top-seeded Wildcats rallied from a 13-9 deficit after the first quarter to outscore the unseeded Buffanblu 42-24 the rest of the way. They improved to 13-0 with the win after a first-round bye Tuesday and will play fourth-seeded Roosevelt in a 7 p.m. semifinal Thursday at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium.

A crowd of about 400 spectators at McKinley Wednesday night witnessed Konawaena, the top-ranked team in the ScoringLive/OC16 Girls Basketball Power Rankings, go through some early struggles against the taller Buffanblu, but ultimately pulled away behind Molina, the reigning D1 All-Hawaii Player of the Year.

"The second half we were executing our plays way better," said Molina, a junior guard. "In the first quarter it was like all scrambled eggs and then once we started executing our plays, we started having better shots, taking better shots, so that was it: just executing."

Punahou got off a hot start early on. Sophomore guard Elle Uyeda drained three 3-pointers and had 11 of her team's 13 points in the first quarter, but failed to score the rest of the way.

"We were helping so deep and because we know they wanted to go inside — because we're outmanned — and I thought we did a good job, but (Uyeda) knocked down those shots, so when we made our rotations we had to make sure we were matching up with her," Konawaena coach Bobbie Awa said.

The Buffanblu held a 20-15 lead late in the second quarter, but the Wildcats closed out the half on a 5-0 run — capped by Molina's three-point play — to send the game into halftime at a 20-all tie.

"That tied the game up, so that was huge for us, because we didn't want to go into the locker room down and we also want the girls to have their confidence," Awa said.

Conversely, Molina's three-play point took some of the momentum generated in the first half away from Punahou.

"I don't think it killed us, but it just kind of drew some blood right there, because we were up by three, but she's a tough player," Buffanblu coach Kevin Velasco said of Molina.

Punahou briefly reclaimed the lead just seconds into the third quarter on a pair of Tyra Moe free throws, but the Wildcats answered with a 12-0 run, which culminated with Cherilyn Molina's banker that made the score 32-22.

By then it was all but over for the Buffanblu, who got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way. The Wildcats poured it on in the fourth quarter, scoring on 10 of their 13 possessions in the period.

Chanelle Molina said the tempo in the second half was more in favor of Konawaena, which started five guards.

"It was just us hustling back on transitions, because we wanted to get them on fast breaks," Chanelle Molina said. "We know that we're faster, so we just wanted to keep pushing the ball and beat their defense down the court."

Celena Molina grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and Mercedes Victor added nine points and eight boards for the Wildcats.

Punahou's post duo of Tyra Moe (8 points, 7 rebounds) and Vae Malufau (6 points, 9 rebounds) were mostly kept at bay, while sophomore guard Kamaile Kandiah, who scored a team-high 15 points in Tuesday's first-round victory of Kailua, was limited to seven points.

The fifth-ranked Buffanblu fell to 10-5 with the loss and will play Baldwin in a 5 p.m. consolation game at Moanalua Thursday.