The Konawaena boys basketball team wasn’t afraid to get its hands a little dirty to get the job done Friday night against Kamehameha-Hawai`i.
The Wildcats, ranked fourth in the Star-Advertiser Top 10 poll, dominated in the rebounding category, out-rebounding the Warriors by a two-to-one ratio to pull away with a 45-32 victory to improve its winning streak to 11 consecutive games.
The difference in the game was the battle of the boards. Konawaena grabbed 26 second half rebounds to the Warriors’ nine. Overall, the Wildcats gobbled up a majority of the rebounding opportunities presented to them, pulling down 42 boards to Kamehameha’s 21.
“A lot of those were offensive rebounds off of missed free throws,” said veteran Konawaena coach Donny Awa after the game. “I was real proud of how hard they worked. That was huge.”
Kamehameha-Hawai`i (11-7 overall, 4-3 Big Island Interscholastic Federation) was right in the game before Konawaena’s rebounding dominance began. Trailing 19-18 at halftime and giving up a basket to open the third quarter, Bayley-Allen Manliguis drained a three-pointer to tie the game at 21. The Warriors were silenced moments after that shot, hitting just one of its next seven shots in the quarter.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
Konawaena (17-2, 7-0) nearly doubled the amount of shot attempts that the Warriors attempted in the quarter because of its dominance on the offensive glass, shooting 2-for-14 in the third period. That kept the Warriors in the game, down 25-23 going into the final frame.
The groundwork for the fourth quarter was already laid by the home team, however. Konawaena continued to stay aggressive, going away from a struggling outside shooting game and focusing on relentless effort near the rim. Jonah Bredeson led the way in the fourth, scoring eight of his team-high 20 points in the final frame to pull out the win.
Kamehameha-Hawai`i opened up the game with the lead, thanks to a three-pointer from sophomore Kaeo Batacan. Konawaena quickly recovered to take a slight lead, and both teams struggled miserably from the field to gain any sort of traction in the first half. Both teams shot under 31 percent from the floor for the game. The Wildcats shot 30.8 percent (16-for-52) from the floor and 0-for-11 from beyond the arc. That number was slightly better than the Warriors’ 30.2 percent (12-for-43) effort. Kamehameha-Hawai`i also struggled from the charity stripe, shooting just 3-for-9.
Manliguis scored a team-high eight points for Kamehameha-Hawai`i before fouling out. Fellow sophomore Pukana Vincent added seven points and seven rebounds.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
Backing up Bredeson’s 20 point effort was Brandon Awa, who recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
This comments section is a public community forum for the purpose of free expression. Although Big Island Now encourages respectful communication only, some content may be considered offensive. Please view at your own discretion. View Comments
