KAPAA — The Kapaa High School girls basketball team took control of the opening tipoff and never looked back Wednesday night during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation girls basketball games at the Bernice Hundley Gym.
Rolling behind 15 points from Warrior guard Jaliyah Casem and 10 marks from low post Mele Tafea, the wahine Warriors soared to a 50-37 win over Kauai High School before an appreciative crowd that savored the adobo offering from the Warrior boosters’ food booth while the Kapaa girls picked up its third straight win in the league’s second round.
“We had little turnovers here and there, and we gave Kauai too many points on fouls,” said Kapaa coach William Aki. “It feels good to be on top for a change, but there is still business to take care of.”
Kauai High School was at the free throw line 31 times in the contest where Kapaa never let go of a 14-8 lead earned in the first quarter. The Raiders pulled in 14 points from that offering while playing tight and clean to allow Kapaa two points from its five showings on the charity stripe.
“Credit to Kapaa on a good game,” said Kauai coach James Dingus. “I’m proud of how our girls played as a team, played hard, but this is part of high school sports. It’s part of school and you learn life lessons. Tonight, they played hard, played as a team, learned to sacrifice for the team and had respect for their opponent. They are a great group of girls. They are easy to coach. They’re going to be successful in life.”
Kapaa spread its scoring between seven players. Angelica Cudiamat dropped a pair of treys in her 10 point-contribution to the win. Hailey Overmyer dropped in a trey in her seven points, and low post Alexie Ann Yam finished with four points.
Kauai guard Amalya Sales ended the night with 10 points and Marissa Layosa finished with nine points to lead the Raider effort. Rebecca Zenger added eight points and Tiana Manera finished with six points.
Earlier in the evening, Kauai junior varsity picked up a 34-11 win over the JV Warriors led by nine points from Krystin Emproso and seven points from Zoe Santa Maria.
Jada Ines topped the JV Warriors on six points. Kyllie Belmonte and Kyla Bautista marked pairs, and a digit from Tatum Luczon accounted for the math.
Kapaa next travels to the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea on Friday to meet the Menehune, who sit with a 2-1 standing in round two following its win over Kauai on Monday night. The JV match tips off at 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity game.
•••
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
