WAIMEA — Despite losing the KIF’s second leading scorer (Chad Barba) to academics, Waimea was able to count on other players for the 48-40 win over Kapa‘a last night at the Clem Gomes Gymnasium. “We just have to roll with
WAIMEA — Despite losing the KIF’s second leading scorer (Chad Barba) to academics, Waimea was able to count on other players for the 48-40 win over Kapa‘a last night at the Clem Gomes Gymnasium.
“We just have to roll with it, but we had some players who stepped it up tonight,” Waimea head coach Elton Montemayor said after the game.
Barba, who averages 13 points per game, will be out at least two weeks, according to Montemayor.
The Menehune jumped out to a 14-9 first quarter lead, thanks to Max Hadwin’s nine points.
Greg Ragsac paced Kapa‘a with four first quarter points.
Waimea sustained its lead in the second stanza, but Kapa‘a crept back late in the first half, as Junnel Calpito poured in a bucket, which put the Warriors within striking distance at 20-17.
In the third period with three minutes to go, Hadwin acted as if he was on the football field and flung a nice TD pass to Aaron Hesapene, who converted the lay-in for the 29-20 lead. Hadwin, Waimea’s senior quarterback stepped up with nine big points against the Warriors.
But Kapa‘a wouldn’t go down, as Kiah Imai put up two straight hoops to cut the margin to six at 31-25 with one minute to go in the third quarter. Waimea’s Chris Newcomb completed a three-point play with a free-throw after being fouled and Hesapene drove in for two more, which ballooned the lead to 36-25 at the end of three.
The Menehune led throughout the fourth period and the game turned into a free-throw shooting contest, with the Warriors behind.
Hesapene was steady at the charity stripe, converting four straight shots to seal the deal for the Menehune, 48-40.
Hesapene led Waimea with 14 points, followed by Hadwin’s nine, and Calsen Agrade’s seven.
Leonel Calvan put nine points on the board to lead the Warriors.
Kiah Imai had seven, Junnel Calpito and Nate Berales finished with six points each.
In the JV contest, it was neck and neck right up until the end, as the Warriors picked up their first win of the season against the Menehune, 52-49.
Keelan Sakuda had the hot hand early with six first quarter points, which gave the Menehune the 11-9 lead.
In the second, both teams fought back and forth, but Waimea still held on by four points at the end of the first half, 30-26.
Bradley Frasco led Waimea with eight first half points and Albert Aguila paced Kapa‘a with 12 points.
Kapa‘a took the lead for good in the fourth quarter, thanks to Halem Medina, who pitched in with five crucial points in the final minutes. Roldan Villanueva’s three-point bomb closed the gap, but the Warriors prevailed, 52-49.
Aguila led Kapa‘a with 18 points, followed by Medina with 10 markers. For Waimea, Vincent Vea put up 10 points and Villanueva added nine, including two 3-pointers.
