HONOLULU — The three-peat is complete, plus an extra trip around the sun amid the feat.
Iolani claimed its third straight HHSAA Division I girls basketball championship at the Blaisdell Center on Saturday night, beating Konawaena 28-17 in by far the lowest-scoring championship game in state history.
Coach Dean Young got his team back to the promised land after taking home the 2019 and 2020 trophies. Last year’s high school basketball season was called off due to the pandemic.
Iolani players and coaches flashed three fingers in their victory photo pose after winning their school’s seventh state title overall in the sport.
This year’s top-seeded Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion had largely a new cast from the 2020 team, but Young said the team culture endured.
“Just having them wanting to buy in, that was the easy part,” he said.
Two years ago, it was Lily Wahinekapu who led the Raiders to a win over the Wildcats in the championship game.
Saturday, it was her little sister.
Jovi Wahinekapu Lefotu was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after scoring 14 with eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks. She was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Jaety Mandaquit and Abby Tanaka.
The 5-foot-8 Wahinekapu Lefotu, who has signed to play with the University of Hawaii, was congratulated by Rainbow Wahine players afterward. She was part of all three Iolani championships.
“The seniors that we had (in 2021), we all really looked up to them. Just using it as motivation to play for them this year. Just enjoy it. Enjoy it all. … All the hard work we put in, I think it really showed tonight, and throughout the season.”
Mandaquit, who had three of Iolani’s four steals in the championship, was lauded for her defensive prowess on opponents’ best scorers.
“She never takes a play off. It’s amazing,” Young said.
Konawaena placed Kailani Salazar-Harrell, Kayla Pak and Braelyn Kauhi on the team after an emotional final that saw the Wildcats’ leader, Salazar-Harrell, get injured just before halftime and miss the crucial second half.
A total crowd of 1,738 was on hand for the Division I and II championship games. Prior to Iolani-Konawaena, Hawaii Baptist Academy won its second title in the last three state tournaments with a 41-28 defeat of Sacred Hearts.
Most eyes were tuned to dynastic squads Iolani and Konawaena, who had combined to win the previous six D-I state titles.
Points came at a premium both ways as the teams both ran patient offenses and pressured the ball extensively. Shooting from the field was nearly identical – 8-for-30, 26.7% for Iolani and 8-for-33, 24.2%, for Konawaena.
The difference came at the line, where the Raiders were 10-for-14. Wahinekapu Lefotu was 8-for-12 by herself.
It was a record low scoring output for both the winning and losing team in the final, D-I or D-II.
The previous lowest combined score in a title game, going back to the first year of state competition in 1977, was University Lab’s 34-20 win over Kamehameha in 1984.
Exactly seven points per quarter turned out to be plenty to get the job done for the Raiders.
“We knew defense was going to be a big thing in this game,” Wahinekapu Lefotu said. “Konawaena, their sets on offense are really effective and they have good shooters. Talking up on defense was really key for us.”
The Wildcats went 0-for-11 on 3s.
There were some conflicting emotions in the victory for Iolani after Salazar-Harrell, who had 27 points and six rebounds in Konawaena’s semifinal win over Lahainaluna on Friday, went down with what appeared to be a serious knee injury right as the halftime buzzer sounded.
“To see her not be able to finish the game is so heartbreaking, even for us,” Young said.
She was carried off the court after several minutes and returned to the bench, on crutches, to a loud ovation from the crowd between the third and fourth quarter.
Konawaena coach Bobbie Awa, who led her program to nine state titles since 2004, was tearful afterward.
“She’s our captain, she’s our leader. Everybody follows her example out there. It was a big loss,” Awa said. “This team is so close. It was very tough for them (the others).”
Of Iolani, Awa said, “They’re well coached. They play very, very aggressive. And (the referees) let us play tonight. We’ve gotta match the physical-ness, that’s all. And we didn’t.”
Braelyn Kauahi and Juliana Rosalio-Watson led Konawaena with six points apiece.
In the D-II championship game, Hawaii Baptist used a 15-3 third quarter to turn a tight game into a runaway, capping a run of four wins in four days for the ILH’s runner-up entry.
Joey Lin, the D-II tournament Most Outstanding Player, scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the win while Careah Baitlon added nine points and Hayley Taka eight. The Eagles triumphed via volume shooting at the free-throw line, where they were 15-for-30 to Sacred Hearts’ 4-for-10.
HBA has claimed three titles since 2016 – the most recent two under Robin Yamaguchi. He said that fatigue was not a factor for his group.
“Because we played the preseason so hard, we battled through bigger teams, better teams,” Yamaguchi said. “It really helped us.”
KalysaMarie Ng led Sacred Hearts with 10 points.
It was the ILH’s fifth girls basketball D-II state title in the last six state tournaments.
To cap the night, next week's HHSAA Division I boys basketball championship bracket was revealed: