Let’s hope Kapa’a faced its heaviest challenge in their 56-38 loss against the Waimea Menehunes at Clem Gomes gym Tuesday night. The Warriors were missing utility guard Asher Cole to illness and/or injury, Seth Yamamoto played limited minutes due to
Let’s hope Kapa’a faced its heaviest challenge in their 56-38 loss against the Waimea Menehunes at Clem Gomes gym Tuesday night.
The Warriors were missing utility guard Asher Cole to illness and/or injury, Seth Yamamoto played limited minutes due to an apparently bad cold, and for reasons only Head Coach Michael Ban can know, Kaili Panui barely etched 16 minutes of playing time.
If that’s not enough, Waimea decided to flaunt its much improved offensive and defensive scheme, that evening. It was a tough break for the Warriors – and it showed on the scoreboard.
“We are getting there,” said Waimea Coach Matt Taba. “We cut down on turnovers, we continued to take high percentage shots and we played them the way we wanted to play.”
Taba said he also got hard-fought minutes from forwards Alan Manuel and Josh Vinzant, who succesfully filled the void left by absent big man Austin Alquiza.
“They played really hard out there and did a great job, especially on defense.”
The Menehunes played strong defensively from start to finish. They held Kapa’a guard Garrett Danner to seven points on 3-8 shooting (1-5 from three-point range), and hindered his opportunity to create on the interior drive.
Waimea forced 21 Kapa’a turnovers, and was able to convert them into positive numbers on the scoreboard.
As of now, the Menehunes are the only team to have begun shedding their pre-season scales.
At 2-0, they will face the Kaua’i Red Raiders on Friday, a team that – despite a win against Kapa’a last weekend – still hasn’t found their groove.
“Everyone has their own style and we are trying to figure out ours right now,” said Red Raider Head Coach Alex Pascual. “It seems, right now, that whoever [in the KIF] gets their act together first will get the early wins.”
Kaua’i will travel to Clem Gomes this Friday – Junior Varsity will start at 5:30 p..m., and the varsity will follow 20 minutes after the JV finale.
*Note: Pre-game analysis of Kaua’i/Waimea match-up will appear in tomorrow’s Garden Island.
