Fri, Feb 13, 2015 @ Stan Sheriff

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Lahainaluna

41

Konawaena

51

Final	1	2	3	4
Lahainaluna (14-0, 20-2)	14	11	13	3	41
Konawaena (12-0, 28-1)	15	8	18	10	51

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

Chanelle Molina 27 pts  1 3pm  4/6 FTs

Fiemea Hafoka 12 pts  2 3pm  0/0 FTs

Celena Molina 9 tot  2 off  7 def

Matafolau Hafoka 12 tot  1 off  11 def

Chanelle Molina 3 ast

Fiemea Hafoka 3 ast

Konawaena players are presented the trophy by head coach Bobby Awa after winning the school's sixth Division I girls basketball state title. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Konawaena's Chanelle Molina drives to the basket against Lahainaluna. Molina had a game-high 27 points in the win. Brien Ing | SL

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Konawaena players are presented the trophy by head coach Bobby Awa after winning the school's sixth Division I girls basketball state title. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Konawaena's Chanelle Molina drives to the basket against Lahainaluna. Molina had a game-high 27 points in the win. Brien Ing | SL

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MANOA - Chanelle Molina accounted for more than half her team's scoring and No. 1 Konawaena beat No. 2 Lahainaluna, 51-41, Friday night for its sixth New City Nissan Division I girls' state basketball title.

Molina, the tournament's most outstanding player, scored 27 points, 16 in the second half, to give the Wildcats (15-0) their first crown since 2012 and in the process made coach Bobbie Awa the winningest coach in tournament history with six titles, surpassing Kamehameha's Al Apo.

"I know it's a great accomplishment," Awa said. "It's a great accomplishment because I have great players. I have girls that come out every year, they work hard, buy into the program. They make all us coaches look good. I have great coaches on my staff. Everybody has input. We have so many volunteers and they're so committed to this program."

The Lunas (16-1), looking for their first title since 2010 when they beat the Wildcats, managed only three points in the final nine minutes, 20 seconds of the game, as the Wildcats blew open a close game.

But Friday night was the Chanelle Molina show.

"She's such a pass-first player," Awa said. "Last night, we told now is your time. We knew what offense we wanted to go in. We knew the man that was watching her had four (fouls), so we wanted her to attack the basket more, so she made really good decisions."

Molina was 11 of 17 from the field, including 1 of 1 from the 3-point arc. She was second on her team with eight rebounds, five on the defensive side.

"I felt I had to be a leader out there someone that all the girls could look up to," said Molina, a junior and the oldest of three sisters on the team. "I felt, they're all young and you just have to nourish them, make sure everything's all right."

"Chanelle is Chanelle," senior guard and teammate Lindsey Bates said of Molina. "She plays her game, she shows up to play and she's a beast on the court."

The third quarter started tight with the game tied at 25 and 30. The Lunas took leads of 32-30, 36-35 and their last at 38-37 with 1:20 left in the period on Keleah-Aiko Koloi's put-back shot. From there, the Lunas had trouble with the Wildcats' pressure. The Wildcats closed the third and opened the fourth with a 7-0 run to take a 44-38 lead.

The Lunas finally broke the drought at 5:10 on Koloi's second put-back. But Molina accounted for six of the Wildcats' last seven points to put the game away.

"We didn't execute some plays, turnovers here and there," Lahainaluna coach Todd Rickard said. "It just got away from us and we had to come out and chase."

Ihi Victor was the only other Wildcat with double-digit scoring with 14 points.

The Lunas had three players in double digits. Fe-Ko-Fiemea led with 12 points, followed by 11 each from Koloi and Cameron Fernandez. Koloi, who had 21 rebounds in the semifinals against Maryknoll, had just four. Matafolau Hafoka had 12 of the Lunas' 26 rebounds.

The Wildcats took a 15-14 lead after the first period. Konawaena took a 21-18 lead with 2:47 on a jumper by Victor. But the Lunas staged a 7-0 run that was ignited by a 3-pointer by Fe-Ko-Fiemea Hafota. Victor closed the half with dribble drive to pull the Wildcats to 25-23 at the half.

It was the second year in  row the Lunas lost in the title game.

"It was two good teams going at it," Rickard said. "We came out on the short-end of the stick."

The Wildcats had three players who transferred to Konawaena in the offseason. The Bates twins - Lindsey and Taylor, as well as Aloha Salem.

"I happy for them," Rickard said of the trio of ex-Lunas. "(But) I'm happy for our girls…All I can say is I'm proud of my girls and the way they played."