Everyone knew Kapa’a had nifty guards. But last night the Warrior frontcourt emerged from the depths of repression, and lifted Kapa’a to a 57-52 down-to-the-wire win over the Kaua’i Red Raiders at the Raiderdome Friday night. Kapa’a’s Eric Robbins pulled
Everyone knew Kapa’a had nifty guards.
But last night the Warrior frontcourt emerged from the depths of repression, and lifted Kapa’a to a 57-52 down-to-the-wire win over the Kaua’i Red Raiders at the Raiderdome Friday night.
Kapa’a’s Eric Robbins pulled out a sterling performance under the net, sending four Red Raider shots to the stands to highlight his 10-point, six rebound performance.
And when it got down to the final minute, Seth Yamamoto ignited an impressive Warrior finish – as he did last week against Waimea – with two steals and two key buckets to put Kapa’a over the top and hand them their first second round victory.
Guard Garrett Danner’s (18 points, four rebounds) four straight free-throws in the final seven seconds proved to be the ultimate deathknell for the Red Raiders, who were plagued by poor free-throw shooting and a limping Jason Sahara in the final two periods.
The Warriors improve to 2-3 in KIF play; the Red Raiders fall to 1-5.
Kaua’i took control in the first period.
An early dish from Lionel Tomacder – who notched a team-high 18 points and eight rebounds for the Red Raiders – gave forward Jason Sahara an easy two under the bucket and Kaua’i a 10-8 lead with 3:38 in the first.
But then came rockin’ Robbins, whose three rebounds in the first set up two pretty Danner jumpers. The Warriors climbed to within two before the onset of the second quarter.
Despite three early turnovers, the Warriors blasted through the second on two Robbins buckets which ignited a 11-7 Kapa’a run heading into the half.
The Red Raiders were able to maintain a 27-24 lead with a dagger three from guard Alec Reichle, who was a refreshing 3-5 beyond the arc with 16 total points and two steals.
Raider guard Koa Navarro, who scored half of his eight points in the third period, helped maintain a 42-37 Kaua’i advantage heading into the fourth.
Yamamoto began rocking the Red Raider boat in the final minutes.
His clutch bucket and two run-away thefts evened the score at 48 apiece mid-fourth, and his transition bucket-and-foul in the final minute gave Kapa’a a 53-51 lead.
Red Raider guard Aukai Dennis nearly evened the score at the line in the final seconds, but he missed his second bucket and Danner hit four more to give Kapa’a the 57-52 victory.
