Ihilani Yama’s steal and bucket with less than 20 seconds in overtime sealed the deal for the Kapa’a Warriors, who topped the Waimea Menehunes 59-56 in a KIF basketball thriller at Clem Gomes gymnasium Tuesday night. The Warriors remain undefeated
Ihilani Yama’s steal and bucket with less than 20 seconds in overtime sealed the deal for the Kapa’a Warriors, who topped the Waimea Menehunes 59-56 in a KIF basketball thriller at Clem Gomes gymnasium Tuesday night.
The Warriors remain undefeated at 2-0; the Menehunes drop to 0-1.
Ashley Vea, who led all scorers with 23 points (12-14 free-throws), drained a three-pointer with :16 seconds in the fourth to put Waimea back in the hunt for a KIF home-opener victory. Seconds later, Melody Manuel offset two Warrior free-throws with a bucket-and-foul runner which tied the game at 54-apiece.
On to overtime.
Two Waimea technicals, one in the fourth and the other in the overtime period, helped put Kapa’a in position to steal the win. With the scored tied, 56-56, Yama stole a Menehune inbound pass and, moments later, layed in the game-sealing bucket to bring the score to 59-56.
For the Warriors, Sharlene Carillo scored 20 points and notched three assists. Jasmine Stevenson had 11 points, 10 rebounds, one assist and two steals. Danielle Hill had four points and two rebounds. Kanoe Arinaga had 10 points, four rebounds, one assist and two steals. Yama had eight points, two rebounds, three assists and two steals. Jacklyn Alapai had two rebounds, two assists and one steal. Tiana Tasic notched six points, four rebounds. Tescilly MaGuire had two points and two rebounds, and Nichol Kunioka-Volz had one rebound.
For the Menehunes, Ashley Meir had four points, two rebounds and two steals. Erin Castillo had four points and four rebounds. Melody Manuel had four points and four rebounds. Janna Soto had 10 points and four rebounds. Alexis Nawai had four points and two rebounds. Virginia Aguilar had four points and six rebounds. Jannah Tafua had one rebound and Jenny Morita had three points and one steal.
The Menehunes seemed to have a handle on things at the onset. Evading an aggressive Warrior half-court zone in the first, Waimea used the speed of its guards to penetrate the Warrior frontcourt. Despite committing six turnovers before the first half, the Menehunes lead 26-22 heading into the third.
Kapa’a began the same relentless full-court pressure it employed in its win over the Kaua’i Red Raiders on Saturday, and it worked. The Warriors outscored Waimea 17-11 and caused six Menehune turnovers to take a commanding 39-33 lead heading into the fourth.
Again, despite Menehune mental lapses (two uneeded technicals), Waimea managed to keep it interesting, offsetting a five-point deficit to send it into overtime. But they couldn’t finish it in the extra period, and Kapa’a ran away with its second victory of the KIF season.
