KAPA‘A — Head coach Maynard Shea and his Westside Hornets’ boys 14-and-under squad came into Saturday’s championship game against the Kapa‘a Warriors still thinking about their huge upset over Lihu‘e Breakaway, the tournament’s number-one-seeded team. “We overcame a big obstacle
KAPA‘A — Head coach Maynard Shea and his Westside Hornets’ boys 14-and-under squad came into Saturday’s championship game against the Kapa‘a Warriors still thinking about their huge upset over Lihu‘e Breakaway, the tournament’s number-one-seeded team.
“We overcame a big obstacle by beating Lihu‘e, but that was only a start and we need to play good today too,” Shea said.
Consequently, his team did exactly what was said by their coach, as they came out strong with an 11-2 surge in the first quarter and sustained Kapa‘a comebacks to win the KYBA’s boys 14-and-under championship, 45-38 on Saturday at the Bernice Hundley Gymnasium on the campus of Kapa‘a High School.
The Warriors did put in a valiant effort, as they refused to go down easy, by mounting comeback after comeback to eventually tie the contest in the second quarter.
The game resembled a football scrimmage against two tough, scrappy teams, as both squads were in the bonus early in the second period.
The Hornets were able to distance themselves from the Warriors at halftime with a 25-21 lead.
Then in the third quarter, Westside utilized the four-corners offensive scheme, which enabled them to waste time off the clock with the lead in their hands. The Hornets used the same approach earlier in the week to slow down the talented run and gun offense of Lihu‘e, which led to the eventual victory.
After trading baskets the rest of the way, the Hornets were able to convert crucial free-throws to put the game away.
Clareson Torres led the Hornets in the scoring department with 18 points. The Warriors were led by Devin Saiki, who scored 11 to help out the Kapa‘a cause.
In other games at Kapa‘a, the Lihu‘e Comets and Sanoe Kellinoi’s 12 points was enough to keep the Eastside Gurlz at bay with a 40-30 win in girls 14-and-under action. Kilauea Hui followed up with a suffocating performance, as they trounced Wailua I, 25-6. Caroline Troutman fished for eight points and Mai‘like Napolean and Jondi Das each scored a bucket for Wailua.
The Kaua‘i Fire Raiders gave Wailua II all they could handle for the 36-28 win. Brandi Kohatsu exploded for 25 points, almost outscoring her opponents all by herself. Kira Nakamura scored nine points for Wailua II. The boys 14-and-under third-place game was all Lihu‘e, as they broke away for a 54-24 win over Kalaheo.
Jeremy Robinson’s neighborhood was open for 14 points. Tyrus Ceria-Lux managed to muster up 12 markers for Kalaheo.
The final contest of the basketball-filled day at Kapa‘a pitted the Kapa‘a Warriors against Kalaheo in a boys 19-and-under game.
The Warriors clipped Kalaheo, 49-37 behind 12 points from Mike Lindsey. Tab “not the soft drink” Matsumoto crammed in 13 points for Kalaheo.
Meanwhile, the 19-and-under boys were at it again in Kalaheo. The first game however, didn’t live up to its billing, as ZZ won by forfeit over the Southside Boys.
The second game carried all of the excitement with Aaron Hesapene providing 15 points for the Westside Klowns, who weren’t clowning around, to beat the Eastside Ballers, 43-30.
Kaina Kaauwai led the Ballers with 13 points. On Friday, the 14-and-under girls got their groove on, as Aiko Grande put up 13 points in a one-point thriller, giving the Kaumakani Supersonics the win, 31-30 over the Westside Hornets I.
Natalie Mata notched 11 for the Hornets.
The Westside Hornet’s second squad was much more successful as they pulled out with the win, 40-18 at the hands of the C-Town Girls. Britney Yadao-Lanning continued her assault on the score books with 14 points.
Brandi Gomes put eight points through the hoop for C-Town.
In the 19-and-under girls contest, the Kaumakani Supersonics’ Moani Durant led the charge with 11 points for the win, 37-29 over Wailua.
Chelsie Villatora netted 12 for Wailua.
