LIHU’E — The story line had been a consistent one for 31 minutes and 45 seconds: Kapa’a’s press had baffled Kaua’i into a herd of turnovers, 37 of them to be exact. That’s 37 possessions gone awry. But, with the
LIHU’E — The story line had been a consistent one for 31 minutes and 45 seconds: Kapa’a’s press had baffled Kaua’i into a herd of turnovers, 37 of them to be exact.
That’s 37 possessions gone awry.
But, with the score tied 47-47 and just 15 seconds showing on the fourth-quarter clock, the Red Raiders executed their press-breaker with unparalleled precision. The ball found Kehau Regidor on the sideline. The guard whipped the ball to Elisa Iouye in the middle of the floor. She then lofted a pass to Misty Hug for a lay-up with 2.6 seconds remaining. The bucket sealed a 49-47 Red Raiders’ win in their Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation opener.
“It’s not that our press-breaker wasn’t working that well,” Kaua’i head coach Penny Vess said. “The trouble was with our decision making.”
Indeed, both teams regularly got the ball into the right hands, only to watch a poor decision cost them a possession. The Warriors (0-2 KIF) committed 25 turnovers.
Playing with just seven players, however, Kapa’a did a better job of controlling the ball. It clearly benefitted from having senior Waiala Quisano at the point.
“My guards are juniors with little experience,” Vess said. “But they’ll get it and they’ll be fine.”
Once the Red Raiders (1-0) passed the first line of the Kapa’a press, many of their opportunities led to lay-ups.
“They [Kapa’a] hassled us pretty good,” Vess said. “And once we got a couple of lay-ups, we got excited and overanxious and that led to some turnovers.”
Kaua’i jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the strength of Hug’s four blocked shots in the first three minutes — she finished with six. But the 5-foot-11 senior was forced to the bench with foul trouble soon after that.
The Warriors came back to tie the score at 13-13 at the end of one quarter.
Ashley Farias put Kapa’a ahead 17-13 with her 12th point of the game just minutes into the second quarter. Kaua’i then got back on its feet and trailed just 24-23 at the half.
The teams see-sawed after intermission, as neither held a lead exceeding four points.
“I told my girls Kapa’a would be scrappy,” Vess said. “They weren’t going to give up.”
But the Warriors could never get over the hump. Two Quisano free throws tied the game 45-45 with one minute remaining. Kaua’i’s Belinda Butac then canned a jumper. Ihilani Yama tied the score for Kapa’a to set up Hug’s dramatic lay-up.
In the junior varsity game, Kaua’i defeated Kapa’a 80-17.
Kaua’i-49
Player Points Rebds.
Belinda Butac 14 2
Erin Garlie 6 9
Sarah Sakimae 4 5
Kehau Regidor 3 2
Elisa Inouye 0 5
Rona Nishikawa 6 1
Misty Hug 6 5
Kara Matsunaga 0 0
LeeAnne Cox 0 0
K. Kashiwabara 6 1
Marissa Bonilla 4 2
Total 49 32
Kapa’a-47
Player Points Rebds.
Waiala Quisano 7 3
Danielle Hill 4 7
Kanoe Arinaga 9 4
Ihilani Yama 6 7
Tania Tasic 2 4
Ashley Farias 17 6
Shayna Carvalho 2 5
Total 47 36
Score by quarters
Kapa’a 13 11 11 12 — 47
Kaua’i 13 10 13 13 — 49
Sports editor Jason Gallic at 245-3681 or mailto:kauaisports@pulitzer.net
