HHSAA Girls Basketball
Dunn, defense help Kamehameha put an end to Iolani's reign


ScoringLive staff
February 8, 2025, 11:51pm

  

Sat, Feb 8, 2025 @ McKinley

Iolani

34

Kamehameha

40

Final 1 2 3 4  
Iolani (6-6, 19-11) 13 95734
Kamehameha (11-0, 23-1) 15 4 11 1040
Nihoa Dunn 18 pts  4/9 FTs
Rayah Soriano 11 pts  3 3pm  2/2 FTs
Nihoa Dunn 13 tot  3 off  10 def
Mia Frye 6 tot  4 off  2 def


The streak is Dunn.

Led by a stout defense and the play of post Nihoa Dunn, Kamehameha toppled five-time defending state champion Iolani, 40-34, claiming its first Division I state championship win since 2013.

"This wasn't just this year, this was three-plus years in the making," said Dunn. "We did this for the people who came before us, the ones here with us now and those who are coming after us and its just so awesome."

As its been all season, there was little in the way of answers to try and stop Dunn offensively, though the Raiders threw everything but the kitchen sink to try, deploying Haley Mafua, Kina Sake and Chelsea Lee at intervals.

"Iolani is full of great players, I just had to come into this game with a relentless mindset, if I miss its okay, if I make it great," said Dunn.

Despite the game plan, Dunn impact was evident, as she hit 7 of 13 shots from the field while knocking down a somewhat uncharacteristic 4 of 9 free throws for a game high 18 points. She also grabbed 13 rebounds and added two assists and a block.

Perhaps the larger story of the game was the Warriors' defense, that held the Raiders to 28.2% from the field and limited Justice Kekauoha and Mia Frye to a combined 4 of 15 from the field for just 15 points.

"We take pride in our defense," Dunn remarked. "We knew we had to lock down defense and not trade bucket for bucket. We needed to make stops and convert on those on offense."

Pacific Century Fund Team Aloha Girls Basketball State Championships
Division I All-Tournament Team

Justice Kekauoha, Iolani
Mia Frye, Iolani
Kapomaikai Nakakura, Kamehameha
Aubrey Pak, Konawaena
Jaynalyn Sotelo, Campbell
Most Outstanding Player: Nihoa Dunn, Kamehameha

Kekauoha's 10 points on the evening tied her season-low, thanks at least in part to the play of Cabuyado-Caswell as well as Makenzie Alapai, who face-guarded the talented sophomore for not only much of this game, but in each of the meetings between the two teams this season.

"She's really tough, but I really love guarding her, and the intensity is great," said Cabuyado-Caswell. "I think limiting her scoring was definitely one of the keys (to the game)." 

Despite their usual scoring duo struggling, Iolani found instant offense in the first half in the form of three triples by Rayah Soriano, who led the team with 11 points by game's end but only managed two points in the final two quarters after her hot start.

The Raiders actually led 22-19 at the end of the first half, scoring the final five points of the quarter after trailing 19-17 late the period.

Coming out of the half, the Warriors found instant momentum out the gate off a pair of triples by Pomai Nakakura that vaulted the ILH champs back ahead 25-23.

"Those were huge," said Dunn. "We set up those plays for her amd we have so much trust and faith in her that she can hit those shots."

"My teammates just fed me the ball," said Nakakura. "I just shot it, and they trust me to hit it."

The Warriors continued to cling to a single possession margin heading into the final quarter of play, and the game see-sawed back and forth with just a point difference for much of the final period, before Dunn powered in a basket from point blank range to make it a 37-34 lead with 1:13 left.

Nakakura hit another key bucket with 30 seconds remaining to push the lead to four, and Makenzie Alapai and Dunn each added a point via free throws in the final stretch to account for the final margin.

Kamehameha won all four meetings with Iolani this season, by an average margin of victory of six points. 

The Warriors only reported loss of the year came in the preseason, a 51-42 result against mainland power Mater Dei.

"The feeling is surreal to be able to win it with this team," added Dunn. "We push each other in practice, we practice how we play and this is just our reward for the hard work we put in."




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