The undersized team in white, kelly green and gold found a way to win again.
Kaimuki overcame a 3-for-15 night from the 3-point arc, connecting on 12 free throws in the second half to pull away from Nanakuli for a 56-48 win on Monday night in the opening round of the Snapple/HHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships in Division I.
Nanakuli endured rush-hour traffic to arrive at Kaimuki on schedule for the 5 p.m. tip-off. Down 12 points in the third quarter, the Golden Hawks chipped away and had the lead down to 47-42 after Trisdyn Kalaau swished a corner 3 with three minutes remaining in regulation.
Kaelyn Espinda, who scored 18 of her game-high 22 points after halftime, then made six free throws in a row to help open the lead to 53-44. After Victoria Kintz fed Mele Loo-Godinet for an easy layup with 55 seconds left, the lead was 11 points. Nanakuli got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Espinda jammed her left ring finger reaching in on defense during the first quarter, but ran the point most of the night and helped Kaimuki get into the bonus early in each half. She added five rebounds and five steals for Kaimuki (12-2), the OIA runner-up squad that averages 5-foot-5 in height.
Kintz, a senior guard playing center some of the time in Kaimuki’s 2-3 matchup zone, added 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds with two assists. Sirena Titer added 10 points and Sonia Palik dished five assists.
“Ugly game. They were banging their shots in left and right,” Kaimuki coach Mona Fa‘asoa said of Nanakuli. “We took away 2 (Alana Nuuanu), then the other ones were hitting.
In the end, Nanakuli (10-5), the third-place team in the OIA West during the regular season, was outstanding from the arc (10-for-23) and won the battle on the boards (33-27), but shot just 4-for-12 from the free-throw line. That included 4-for-10 at the charity stripe in the final quarter. That struggle along with 18 turnovers proved to be crucial, especially playing on the road in Kaimuki’s gym.
“Nothing went exactly the way we wanted, but we took the 3s like we wanted,” Nanakuli coach Randy Kauhane said. “We gave them confidence at practice the past few days, but we missed a lot of free throws. You’ve got to knock them in when it counts.”
Nuuanu, a senior guard, splashed in 3-pointers from the start as if she was in her home gym. She finished with 21 points, including five treys, with nine rebounds and two steals. No other Golden Hawk scored more than eight points, though Kaimuki had some trouble contesting open shots at the arc.
The lead changed hands five times in the first half before the Bulldogs sprung ahead on a wing 3 by Titer, a sophomore guard. Kintz scored on free throws, a spin move and had two miraculous saves on balls going out of bounds that led to Kaimuki buckets during a 16-3 run.
Jasmin Chipen-Ii was one of the Kaimuki defenders assigned to blanket Nuuanu, who took just three 3-point attempts in the second half.
“Holy macaroni, we needed to wake up,” Kintz said. “We needed to tighten up our defense.”
Kaimuki led 34-22 with three minutes left in the third quarter, but clutch 3-point shooting by Kalaau and Kanani Diamond fueled a late run by Nanakuli.
Then came Kaimuki’s march to the foul line. Instead of shying away from drives to the bucket in the first half, Espinda attacked again and again in the fourth stanza.
“We got gassed for it at halftime,” the sophomore guard said of her coach’s feedback. “It was a wake-up call.”
Espinda was 3-for-7 before sinking her final eight foul shots to ice the win.
Kaimuki will face second-seeded Maryknoll on Thursday at Moanalua. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
Mililani 43, Hilo 34
Kalena Gibson’s double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds helped the Trojans (11-3) knock off the host Vikings (10-3).
Dahlis Sablay added 11 points, six rebounds and four assists for Mililani, which outscored Hilo 26-13 in the second half after trailing by four at the break.
Cherish Quiocho had 10 points and Mele Vaka added nine points to lead the Vikings, who were outrebounded 40-23.
Kamehameha 58, Kahuku 40
Kalina Obrey dominated inside with 26 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Warriors over the visiting Red Raiders.
Obrey was 14-for-18 from the free-throw line for Kamehameha (10-5), which scored 21 points at the foul line and forced 17 turnovers.
Divine Galeai and Lehiwa Benson scored a team-high 10 points for Kahuku, which finished its season 10-5.
Kamehameha-Maui 33, Leilehua 31
Kealia Sjostrand hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 11 seconds remaining and the Warriors won a state tournament game for the first time in school history against the Mules, who missed two free throws with one second remaining.
Kaylee Cambra had a game-high 12 points and Kimani Fernandez-Roy added seven points, nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks for Kamehameha-Maui (11-4), which will play top seed and two-time defending state champion Konawaena in Thursday’s quarterfinal game at 5 p.m. at McKinley.
Chyel Palmer had 11 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Mules, who end their season 10-4.
