KALAHEO — A Michelle Toy buzzer beating bomb as time expired pushed Wailua into the championship arena, Friday night at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center. For the hustling Wailua guard, it was her second trey of the night, and the second
KALAHEO — A Michelle Toy buzzer beating bomb as time expired pushed Wailua into the championship arena, Friday night at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
For the hustling Wailua guard, it was her second trey of the night, and the second time in as many nights to push Wailua into the lead with time expiring. On Thursday evening, it was a Toy field goal in the waning minutes of their encounter against Waimea that broke a three-way tie for the top seed in the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association (KYBA) Girls 16 Under division.
On Friday night, the Toy trey from four o’clock pushed Wailua to a 36-34 win over Lihu‘e for the right to play the Lady Raiders for the division title in the KYBA 19 Under class.
“I don’t know how many more of these I can take,” an exhausted Talbert Tacbian, coach for the Wailua ladies said following their win. “If we are going win, or lose, it’s got to be clear early.”
“When I saw them (Lihu‘e) hit the shots, I knew we were going to have a hard time,” Tacbian said.
Lihu‘e’s Tamalyn Hasegawa and Rachel Taira spearheaded a vigorous effort that fell short at the end, one of their newcomers, Emma Makepa-Foley playing a key role for the team coached by Kaua‘i High School assistant girls basketball coach Angela Lopez.
“They must’ve really wanted it,” Lopez said following their heart-breaker. This was the most intensity demonstrated by the girls wearing the Mama Lucy’s jerseys, their normal season gear consisting of hand painted pink numbers on a black tee-shirt.
With seven ticks remaining on the game clock, Makepa-Foley broke a 33-33 deadlock on a free throw, but the ensuing breakaway saw Toy launch her buzzer bomb catalyzing a green explosion as the sphere swished through the hoop as the buzzer sounded.
Toy finished with a game-high 14 points to lead the Wailua effort with Kennilyn Nakamura contributing nine points along with a hefty amount of hustle. Leilani Laranio, another Wailua guard finished with five points, and Hanalei Gomes adding four in the effort. Pairs from Roselyn Ebinger and Rachel Ganir rounded out the win.
Taira and Hasegawa finished by leading the Lihu‘e scoring effort with 11- and 10-point showings respectively. Nalinee Pickop added six that came on a pair of first-half treys. Makepa-Foley finished with four markers, and a pair from Reina Fujimoto accounted for their efforts.
The Wailua victory sets the stage for the championship contest, Wednesday, July 6 when they face off against the Lady Raiders starting at 7 p.m. at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
Earlier in the evening, the Lady Raiders under Kaua‘i High School girls basketball coach Dennis Aquino kept well ahead of Waimea, 27-15.
With a 10-point deficit, 14-4 at the half, Waimea was contained to single digit scoring through the third frame, and despite being strapped with team fouls, made a concerted comeback with just three minutes left in the game headed by Jessica Jacinto and Natasha Acosta.
But, the effort fell short as the Lady Raiders stayed ahead despite losing a player to injury.
Kassy Morishige and Darcie Allianic led the Lady Raider efforts on showings of eight- and six-point showings respectively.
