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Brandon Ching | ScoringLiveFebruary 9, 2020, 7:38am
Sat, Feb 8, 2020 @ Neal Blaisdell
KAKAAKO — Top-ranked Iolani had to claw their way from a third quarter deficit and pulled away late in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 2 Konawaena, 55-46, to win their second consecutive Snapple/HHSAA Division I Girls Basketball State Championship at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena Saturday.
Dean Young is the second Iolani coach in state tournament history to lead the Raiders to consecutive titles. The last time Iolani repeated was 1995 to 1996 and were coached by the late Bernie Ching.
With the help of sisters Jovi Wahinekapu Lefotu and Lily Lefotu Wahinekapu, the pair put up 22 points, six rebounds, and 20 points, four boards, and five steals respectively to defend the title.
"I'm really proud of my girls, I'm really proud of the Iolani community, my parents, and other parents involved in this. I'm really proud of all of them," said Lefotu Wahinekapu, who was the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
"Those girls are working so hard everyday before and after practice. That's all their doing: working on their shot, their moves, their finishes. They did that all season. I wasn't surprised, I was expecting it. It was a matter of time before one or both of them makes the play," Young said.
It was all Iolani in the first quarter as the Raiders led 7-0 in the first 59 seconds of the game and took a 11-2 lead on Wahinekapu Lefotu's 3-point play. Caiyle Kaupu got on the board with a baseline jumper, but the Raiders led, 16-4, after the first quarter.
"We stuck to our game plan and do what we do. Keep our tempo," Lefotu Wahinekapu said.
"In the beginning we were turning the ball over and I thought we could've got some foul calls. They were letting us play, so we had to be more physical and stronger with the ball. Once we got one stop and scored it started our momentum there," Konawaena co-coach Dawnyelle Awa said.
The Wildcats roared to life and began cutting down the deficit, possession by possession. Kaupu hit a 3-pointer near the top of the arc and Kayla Pak hit her second triple to make it a six point game.
"That was part of our game plan to get the tempo going. To catch them off guard on our press and easy buckets," Young said of the first quarter. "Second quarter, we broke down defensively. We fundamentally dropped defensively. They were running the game plan, but they weren't executing the fundamentals: switching, closing out, helping on the drive."
Kaupu willed the Wildcats into the title game by muscling and maneuvering her way in the paint. She had 37 points in their semifinal win over Kahuku and closed out her high school career with 19 points and eight rebounds.
"We tried to post her up inside. The doubles were sitting in there waiting for her to get the ball. We got her the ball outside the three and she penetrated for us really well," Awa said as Kaupu jumpstarted the team in the second quarter.
Kaupu got to the rim twice and was fouled in the process and made both attempts that brought the Wildcats within one. Lefotu Wahinekapu and Kaliana Salazar-Harrell answered each other with driving layups before Lefotu Wahinekapu splashed a 3-pointer from the right wing. Jayla Medeiros slipped by the defense for two as Konawaena trailed by two, 26-24 at halftime.
"During halftime, we talked about how our defense had to step it up. It started getting sloppy. Defense first and our offense will follow. We had to move the ball on offense and on defense know where Kaliana and Caiyle are, they were the main players to shut down," Wahinekapu Lefotu said.
A defensive breakdown by Iolani led to Braelyn Kauhi nailing two 3-pointers, one from the left wing and the other from the corner to give Konawaena a 33-28 lead to force a 30 second timeout from Iolani in the third quarter.
"It was that one spurt where we were making the next pass and finding the open person," Awa said.
"We had her (Kauhi) uncovered two possessions in a row. She banged two open threes. Good thing these girls were resilient and were so determined and there was no panic, they kept grinding it out," Young said.
It was a situation the Raiders didn't encounter a whole lot this season, but were never rattled as Wahinekapu Lefotu attacked with a drive and Lefotu Wahinekapu got a layup off a steal to trail, 35-34.
"We had to stay together. We didn't get down, we kept pushing. We had to do what we had to do to win," Lefotu Wahinekapu said.
Lefotu Wahinekapu got fouled on a shot attempt with 4.6 seconds and made her pair of free throws to reclaim the lead for Iolani, 36-35 heading into the final period.
"It was about staying focused, staying engaged and having second efforts in rebounds," Lefotu Wahinekapu said.
"To go up one entering the fourth was huge with all the momentum," Young said. "How confident we are when we start the fourth with a lead, we understand how to end games. We got Lily the ball in a position where she can attack, either getting the bucket and free throws was huge."
Wahinekapu Lefotu hit a running bank, but Salazar-Harrell, who had 10 points, tied up the game at 38 with her second three. Kaupu was fouled, but split the free throws and Wahinekapu Lefotu was fouled on the other end on her putback then completed the 3-point play to make it, 43-39.
"I knew we just had to score," Wahinekapu Lefotu said. "Get the ball moving, get some offense running and take it to the hole."
Lefotu Wahinekapu got it done on the defensive end and sacrificed herself as she took the charge from Kaupu, who was driving full force to the basket, at the 1:19 mark in the fourth.
"I was really stoked, I was pumped. I was trying to help out my teammates do whatever we can to get the possession back to us," Lefotu Wahinekapu said.
"Anytime you take a charge, it's just huge. It's a momentum swinger and it's such a big sacrifice, especially when someone like Caiyle coming at you. It's doing whatever it takes to win, refuse to lose mentality," Young said.
Just like their game against Waiakea, Iolani proceeded to close out their opponent from the free throw line. The Raiders shot 17 for 20 (85 percent) overall, and in the final 1 minute 48 seconds, Alexis Huntimer, Lefotu Wahinekapu, and Wahinekapu Lefotu combined to make 12 of their 14 free throw attempts to seal the win.
"We know Iolani likes to pull out the ball when they're up in the fourth quarter. I don't think we did a good job trapping the ball, going for steals. We stayed with our man and it wasn't working and they hit their free throws. The only option was for us to get steals, but I don't think we worked hard enough for," Awa said.
Extra running was a motivating factor to make free throws in practice and it paid off as the Raiders shot 79 percent against Waiakea and 85 percent against Konawaena.
"During practice. Before we get water, we have to shoot 8 out of 10 free throws and if we don't, we run. That preparing us for these kind of situations helps us a lot," Wahinekapu Lefotu explained.
"It's the mental toughness, the determination, confidence to step up to the line and drain those. We help them in practice, we shoot them everyday, we shoot them after we make them run and to earn their water breaks. We just try to put something on the line all the time in practice everyday. When you play good teams, you have to make those," Young said.
Konawaena saw their 14-game winning streak come to an end and was seeking their 10th overall title and their first since 2018, but came up just short. The team improved over the course of the season since the 28 point loss to Iolani in the preseason at McKinley.
"We're so proud of them, they're a good group of girls, they get along so well. It's sad it came to an end, especially our two seniors. They've come a long way, there were some weeks we didn't go a day off and I'm proud of how far they came," Awa said.
Snapple/HHSAA Division I All-Tournament TeamCaiyle Kaupu, KonawaenaJovi Wahinekapu Lefotu, IolaniKaliana Salazar-Harrell, KonawaenaAlexis Huntimer, IolaniKeeli-Jade Smith, Waiakea
Most Outstanding Player: Lily Lefotu Wahinekapu, Iolani
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