WAIMEA – The Waimea Menehune junior varsity squad closed out the 2002 KIF girls basketball regular season with a 31-10 home victory over the Kapaa Warriors Friday evening at the Clem Gomes gym. The contest started at a deliberate pace
WAIMEA – The Waimea Menehune junior varsity squad closed out the 2002 KIF girls basketball regular season with a 31-10 home victory over the Kapaa Warriors Friday evening at the Clem Gomes gym.
The contest started at a deliberate pace and the opening quarter ended in a scoreless tie as both teams combined to miss 14 shots. The Warrior defense limited the home team to only 5 shot opportunities and forced 4 turnovers to go along with 5 steals.
The Menehunes initially got on the board with 6:30 left in the half when Jessica Jacinto found an opening and scored from the left block. Two minutes later, Tiana Samios length-of-the-court lay-in put the hosts up 4-0. An Elizabeth Yaris put-back bumped the lead to six and a Tori Kagawa trey from the right wing gave Waimea a 9-0 lead at intermission.
Unable to penetrate the tough Menehune zone, Kapaa shooters continued to struggle offensively as they missed 12 shots in the period.
Jenalyn Andres nailed an immediate 15-foot baseline attempt to open the scoring in the third quarter and another Jacinto bucket underneath found Waimea up 13-0. Yaris cashed in her second make with a minute left off an excellent Kagawa feed in traffic to leave the Menehunes ahead 15-0 with a period to play.
Still hampered by an unyielding defense, the methodical Warriors missed 8 shots and were 0-4 from the line as the shutout moved into the final period.
Both offenses came to life as the Menehunes outpointed the visitors 16-10 over the last eight minutes and finished with 9 players in the scoring column.
Trailing 20-0 with 4:30 to play, Warrior guard Sandy Pimental received an entry pass from point Theresa Taylor and scored down low to avert the whitewash.
Mallorie Hepa controlled the paint to sink 6 of the next 9 Menehune points to help bump the difference to a game-high 22 points but with :40 to go, sophomore shooter Tita Kuhaulua swished a top-of-the-key rainbow to cut the lead to 29-10.
Freshman Tiara Kali grabbed an offensive board and put in the final basket of the contest to the delight of the Waimea bench.
Menehune forwards Hepa and Yaris led all scorers with a game-high 6 points each while Pilialoha Keaweamahi dropped in a team-high 4 in the last quarter for Kapaa.
Waimea finished the year with a record of 5 wins and 2 losses to finish a half-game back of the champion Kauai Red Raiders (6-1). The season opener between these two highly competitive teams was canceled due to excessive condensation on the Raider home floor so they complete their season with 7 regular season games under their belt. The Warriors (0-8) showed improvement as the season progressed and will have an excellent corps of girls at the freshman level returning next year.
Kapaa: Tita Kuhaulua 3, Sandy Pimental 2, Eliza Vicoy 0, Wehi Oliver 0, Rachel Boshears 0, Leah Williams 0, Theresa Taylor 0, Nani Kuhaulua DNP, Pilialoha Keaweamahi 4, Mia Archuleta 1. Kaui Cutcher 0, Leilani Josselin 0, Samdi Makepa DNP, Briana Conant 0, Brittany Kaui DNP.
Waimea: Melissa Moreno 1, Chantelle Briones 1, Tiana Samio 4, Tori Kagawa 5, Jessica Jacinto 4, Kristine Sison 0, Tiara Kali 2, Jenalyn Andres 2, Mallorie Hepa 6, Elizabeth Yaris 6, Randi-Ranasha Ortiz 0.
3-Pt. Goals: Kapaa 1 (T. Kuhaulua); Waimea 1 (Kagawa).
