The dark cloud of last year's loss in the title game to Lahainaluna has finally cleared for Konawaena.

The top-seeded Wildcats held off a late Punahou run in a 49-45 win to capture the First Hawaiian Bank Division I girls' basketball crown Friday night before 1,542 at the Blaisdell Center Arena.

It was the third time in five years the Wildcats (17-0) have beaten the Buffanblu (12-3) for the state title. It was Konawaena's fourth crown in eight years.

But it was the culmination of the one-year wait to avenge a 47-45 loss to the Lunas in last year's championship game that made it satisfying.

"It was kind of frustrating the whole year because we had to wait this long to come back here and win it back," said junior guard Lia Galdeira, the tourney's most outstanding player.

Galdeira led her team with 15 points and eight rebounds.

"It's tough losing," Konawaena coach Bobbie Awa said. "It kind of ate the girls up all year. You can't do anything about it until next year."

The third-seeded Buffanblu controlled the tip-off and took a 7-2 lead before the Wildcats went on a 10-0 run and held the lead until 4:01 left when Mysha Sataraka's jumper tied the game at 41.

Konawaena regained the lead at 3:07 on a Galdeira layup to make it 43-41.

Following a media timeout, Punahou's Julia Brand missed a layup, but Sataraka, who led her team with 15 points, put back the missed shot to tie it at 43 with 2:28 left.

But the Wildcats took the lead for good at 1:53 on Mililosa U'ulopa's layup.

Punahou turned over the ball on its next possession when Sataraka was called for a player control foul with 1:39 left. From then, the Wildcats 4 of 8 free throws to pull away and protect their lead.

It was a great effort by Punahou to rally from a seven-point deficit with 7:21 left in the game.

"Let's be honest here," Punahou coach Mike Taylor said. "I don't think many people thought we had a fighting chance. What we did was, we believed in ourselves and our philosophy and our team work. We fought and battled. It could've gone either way. We wanted to give ourselves a chance to win, but it didn't happen. It didn't work out. They have great players. They made the play. We didn't. Too bad we ran out of time."

Hailey Ann Maeda followed U'ulopa with 12 points for the Buffanblu, the only team in the state to finish within single digits of the Wildcats this season.

"Punahou's a great team with great coaching," Awa said. "They had such a good game plan. They stayed in the house, dared us to shoot outside shots. We didn't shoot much because we weren't hitting, but we still somehow got to the basket and still scored. Misilosa U'ulopa played big for us. She played hard for us. Once you're a senior, you want to leave it all on the court."


DIVISION I ALL -TOURNAMENT TEAM

Dawnyelle Awa, Konawaena
Maiki Viela, Lahainaluna
Hailey Ann Maeda, Punahou
Mysha Sataraka, Punahou
Anuhea Wall, Konawaena
 
Most outstanding player: Lia Galdeira, Konawaena

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