(Photo Credit: Mike Burley/Star-Bulletin)
On Thursday night when I got the results from the Girls Division I Semifinal Games with Punahou and Konawaena, I had an idea that we were going to be in for something special. Both teams fought through adversity just to get to the championship, beating tough foes in Lahinaluna and Farrington, respectively. Little did I know that the "something special" would turn into, arguably, the greatest State Title game in memory.
The defending champs fought tooth and nail with the Wildcats from Kealakekua through the opening quarter, as the Buffanblu had an early 9-8 lead in the first eight minutes. Konawaena started to make their move in the second quarter, paced by Lia Galderia's three field goals and seven points from Kimberly Brown off the bench. Those two were the only Wildcats to score, and they outdid the Buffanblu 13-9 in the 2nd quarter to take a halftime advantage.
Brown and Galdeira continued their solid play in the 3rd quarter, combining for 11 of the teams 17 3rd period points to bulge their lead to 9. We also started to see Janelle Nomura try to take the team on her shoulders. She only got 4 points of her 20 in that period, but she started to wildly drive to the bucket, leading to three offensive fouls, two of them in the 3rd.
A nine point lead at the 3rd-4th quarter bridge would increase to eleven before Konawaena would begin to crumble. Nomura put 7 points on the board for Punahou in the 4th quarter, while Konawaena could only manage one field goal, which came from Lia Galdeira. Nomura tied the game with mere seconds remaining, and Galdeira missed an open three at the buzzer to send it to overtime tied at 44.
The 1st Overtime was fairly uneventful, with both teams having opportunities at the free throw line, but only able to hit one from the charity stripe, to send things to a 2nd Overtime tied at 45.
The 2nd Overtime was where Galdeira started to shine. She put in all of the Wildcats three extra session field goals (10/16 FG's on the night) to pull Konawaena ahead for good. Coach Bobby Awa was able to clear the bench with a few seconds remaining to allow her entire team the chance to get on the floor to play in the Championship game. Konawaena wins their 3rd State Title with a 54-50 win over Punahou.
The amazing thing is that with an announced 1,687 in attendance at the NBC, most of the fans were rooting for the Neighbor Island Wildcats. When the TV timeouts would take place, the Kona-favored crowd would sing loudly "Let's Go Kona! Kona, Let's Go!" And when the Punahou cheerleaders would run onto the floor to do their routines, they would get hearty boo's from the Wildcat faithful. I've never seen that kind of lopsided crowd in favor of a team that was truly, in all senses of the word, a visitor.
NOTES: The entire Vulcan Girls Basketball team had made their way to the Blaisdell from McCabe gym after their loss to Hawaii Pacific University. Senior Forward Jessica Hanato stayed back well after the game was over, wearing a Konawaena basketball t-shirt and celebrating with the rest of the Konawaena crowd at least a good 25 minutes plus after the finish. Also in attendance was Oahu Radio personality Billy V, who is a Konawaena grad. He was wearing a Green and White Konawaena Polo Shirt with black Konawaena shorts.
