WAIMEA — It was quite evident Tuesday night that Waimea had scouted Kaua’i’s victory over Kapa’a last Friday night. The Menehunes hardly waited for the opening tip to begin applying full-court pressure to the Red Raiders’ guards. The hosts remembered
WAIMEA — It was quite evident Tuesday night that Waimea had scouted Kaua’i’s victory over Kapa’a last Friday night.
The Menehunes hardly waited for the opening tip to begin applying full-court pressure to the Red Raiders’ guards. The hosts remembered that Kaua’i turned the ball over 37 times Friday.
Even more evident, however, was Kaua’i’s speedy maturation.
The Red Raiders broke Waimea’s press efficiently and rattled the the Menehunes with solid defense of their own to win 45-28 in the final Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation girls basketball game before the proposed teacher’s strike.
“I was really proud of my guards tonight,” Kaua’i coach Penny Vess said. “They read the papers and saw the stats we’d taken Friday night. They knew they needed to improve.”
The Red Raiders (2-0 KIF) still turned the ball over 23 times, but the errors weren’t as glaring.
“We still have work to do,” Vess said. “And we hope this strike doesn’t last that long so we can get back to doing it.”
If a settlement is not reached by Wednesday afternoon, the strike will begin.
It appeared it had already begun for the Menehunes’ offense. As well as the Red Raiders’ defense played, particularly the guard tandem of Marissa Bonilla and Krystalyn Kashiwabara, Waimea’s offense did little to help itself.
After jumping out to a 5-2 lead midway through the first quarter, the Menehunes (1-1) scored just seven points through the next two-and-a-half quarters of basketball. They took a doughnut in the third period.
Senior Robyn Manuel, who led Waimea with 22 points in its win over Kapa’a on March 27, endured a 3-for-26 shooting performance. She did end up leading her team with eight points, however.
While Kaua’i fared better from the field, it wasn’t exactly lighting the nets on fire, and each team had as many or more rebounds than points on the evening.
“We feel pretty good to have gotten these two wins with maybe our best shooter still out of action,” Vess said.
Senior Cissy Dennis’ left foot is still concealed in a cast.
In the interim, junior Belinda Butac has picked up the outside-shooting load. She led the Red Raiders with 11 points — the second time she’d led her team in scoring in as many games.
“She’s got a pretty sweet stroke,” Vess said.
It was one of those strokes that officially put the finishing touches on Waimea Tuesday night.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Waimea seemed to locate a bit of energy, as they scored on back-to-back possessions. The Menehunes cut the lead to 33-20 on an Erin Castillo (six points, four rebounds) jumper.
But the Waimea defense lost Butac on the ensuing trip up the floor. She squirted free on the left baseline and buried a 3-pointer to put Kaua’i firmly in control.
Of note was Elisa Inouye’s performance at the foul line. The Kaua’i senior sank all 10 of her attempts. She grabbed nine boards on the night as well.
Should an 11th-hour settlement be reached by the teachers and the state, Waimea will host Kapa’a Friday night at 7 p.m.
Waimea won the junior varsity game 40-29 to improve to 2-0 on the season. Kaua’i fell to 1-1. Look for more on the game in Thursday’s Garden Island.
