Kapa’a reserves lead Warriors to victory By JASON GALLIC TGI Sports Editor LIHU’E — Kapa’a coach Michael Ban nearly picked his bench clean in striving for victory Friday night at Kaua’i High School. He used 12 of the 13 players
Kapa’a reserves lead Warriors to victory
By JASON GALLIC
TGI Sports
Editor
LIHU’E — Kapa’a coach Michael Ban nearly picked his bench
clean in striving for victory Friday night at Kaua’i High School.
He used
12 of the 13 players at his disposal, then pressed the Red Raiders into
submission, 57-44, for the Warriors’ second Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation
victory of the season. The Raiders drop to 0-1.
“I was really happy with
how our bench played tonight,” Ban said. “I said early in the season that a guy
like Austin [Alapai] might be a difference maker.
“I’m proud of the way all
our guys did.”
Alapai, a junior forward, scored five points and pulled down
a game-high seven rebounds.
He and his bench mates were necessary to
employ Kapa’a’s suffocating press. The full-court style defense disrupted
Kaua’i for much of the night, and prevented the Raiders from ever finding their
rhythm on offense.
“We need that press to get us going, to get us moving,”
Ban said. “But Kaua’i did seem to have some trouble with it.”
Though not so
much that it didn’t keep the score close for the game’s majority.
The
Warriors led just 37-34 after three quarters, and the Red Raiders cut it to
39-37 on R-Jay Pillos’ only 3-pointer of the evening. He ended 1-of-8 from
beyond the arc.
On the ensuing possession, Kapa’a starting point guard Kapu
Hendricksen, who led all scorers with 16 points, buried a leaning jump shot.
The bucket began an 11-1, game-clinching rally for the Warriors.
“We’re
happy to get the win, and be 2-0 in the league,” Ban said. “But we understand
that we still have plenty to work on.
“And we know that Kaua’i is going to
be tough for the rest of the year.”
Despite hanging close all evening, the
Red Raiders were only able to grab the lead one time, at 30-29 in the third
period.
Jason Kashiwabara led Kaua’i with 12 points and six rebounds.
Pillos never seemed able to get on track. He scored eight points on the
evening.
The senior appeared to be afflicted with the same trouble as the
rest of his teammates, Kapa’a’s pressure defense. In particular, senior guard
Willy Carollo got his long arms in multiple passing lanes.
His energy
proved contagious, as numerous Warriors batted away balls, clogged up the floor
and made it difficult for the Red Raiders to get into an offensive set.
Carollo ended the game with six points, five rebounds and four steals.
Rhyan Greenleaf scored 11 points and snagged three rebounds.
Lionel
Tomacder scored eight points for Kaua’i.
The Red Raiders play at Waimea
January 9 at 7 p.m.
KIF Basketball
(season record in
parenthesis)
Kapa’a 57 (2-0)
Kaua’i 44
(0-1)
Points leaders
Kapa’a
Hendricksen, 16
Kaua’i
Kashiwabara, 12
Rebounds
Kapa’a
Alapai, 7
Kaua’i
Kashiwabara, 6
staff photo by dennis fujimoto
kapa’a reserve
austin alapai comes up with a first-half rebound during the Warriors’ 57-44 KIF
victory at Kaua’i Friday night. Alapai scored five points and grabbed a
game-high seven rebounds.
