Ashley Hori at head of Waimea 44-42 victory

WAIMEA—The Menehunes were ready to play.

Ashley Hori, who spearheaded the

Menehunes in their loss against Kapa`a on Tuesday night, was back in the middle

of the action as she sparked a come-from-behind 44-42 victory with a little

more than a minute left on the game clock Thursday night at the Clem Gomes

Gym.

Trailing 36-40 with 1:47 left, Menehunes’ coach Pedro Saligumba called

a timeout to rally the girls in blue.

The timeout didn’t seem to dampen

the Raiders’ momentum as Misty Hug promptly dumped a bucket that was answered

in kind by Erica Iwai, setting off a round of cheers and applause for the

forward’s first (and only) goal of the night.

With 1:14 showing, and facing

a 4-point deficit, Hori was sent to the charity stripe for a successful pair

that pulled Waimea to within two.

Hori returned to the line eight seconds

later, but failed to deadlock the contest as she dropped the opener of a

charity pair. The scoreboard showed 42-41 in favor of Kaua`i with 1:06

left.

The inbound crossed midcourt only to stall on a jump-ball giving

possession back to Waimea with 51 seconds left.

Jennifer Fukino took the

feed, but the ball bounced harmlessly with Robyn Manuel diving in vain as the

ball went out of bounds with 34 seconds remaining. The crowd, one of the

larger ones this season, felt the electricity.

Hori received the inbound

and fired from the top of the key with 13 seconds showing. The ball swoshed

through the net giving the Menehunes the 43-42 go-ahead, only their third of

the night.

Fukino was fouled with just a second showing, and one half of a

charity pair was all it took to ice the 44-42 victory.

Body battering

defense was the scenario as Raider guard Alisa Racelo was sandwiched between

the double pillared defense of Fukino and Robyn Manuel who successfully held

the Raider guard to just four points on the evening.

Witnessed by the

visiting St. Elias Community School team from Yukon, Canada, the slugfest kept

the game scoreless for the first three-and-a-half minutes when Waimea’s Charis

Castillo provided the first strike and Sherlyn Alcon widening the gap 4-1 with

3:04 showing in the quarter.

Back-to-back buckets by Kaua`i’s Elisa Inouye

and Cissy Dennis pulled the Raiders back, with a trey by Kehau Regidor with

Kaua`i the 8-4 nod with 1:06 left in the opening frame.

But, Hori fired

with 12 seconds showing to deadlock the contest, and a half of a foul pair by

Robyn Manuel pulled the Menehunes ahead 10-9 at the buzzer.

Hori paced the

Waimea scoring with a game-total 14 points.