KALAHEO — Wailua’s Kennilyn Nakamura came to play. So did Michelle Toy. But, their efforts came up short at the buzzer as the Kilauea Hui stayed ahead of the girls in green to claim the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association (KYBA)
KALAHEO — Wailua’s Kennilyn Nakamura came to play. So did Michelle Toy.
But, their efforts came up short at the buzzer as the Kilauea Hui stayed ahead of the girls in green to claim the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association (KYBA) 16 and Under championship with a 35-32 win.
With eight seconds showing, Toy, who rebounded from an earlier court injury sustained on a hard fall, ripped the net from 7 o’clock on a three-pointer to pull Wailua to within three points of Kilauea.
The resulting turnover saw Nakamura attempt to deadlock the contest with a trey from the outside, but the shot attempt bounced empty as the buzzer sounded on the Hui win.
“They’re (Wailua) a real team,” KYBA Karen Matsumoto said of Wailua following the championship. “The girls all knew that Kennilyn wanted it, and they gave her the ball.”
Nakamura was at the forefront as Wailua charged out early to gain a lead over Kilauea, notching five of their 10-point first quarter showing.
But, Kilauea answered the challenge behind eventual MVP winner Kieren Pond who dropped a trey and a pair of field goals with Kapua Chandler helping the cause on a pair of buckets to give Kilauea a 12-10 first quarter lead.
That lead stood for the night, despite being outgunned 6-5 in the final frame.
“They came through,” Kilauea coach Mitsu Yokotake said following their victory. “We lost some games, they made some mistakes, but in the end, they came through.”
“This is all going to Kapa‘a,” Yokotake added. “And, they (Kapa‘a) have talent that’s coming from the Wailua team, too.”
Currently, Pond and April Johnson played for the Kapa‘a High School varsity team with the remainder of the team being part of the Warrior JV program with the exception of Kimiko Kuwabara.
Kapua Chandler, the eventual high pointer for the Hui, and Claire Owens attend Kamehameha School where they made the JV teams, Yokotake noted.
“They’ve been playing together for five, six years, since they were ten years old,” Yokotake said. “They’re a good team.”
The victory did not come without cost, though, as Matsumoto noted that many of the Hui players were in four-foul situations, Yokotake closely monitoring that situation as the game clock wound down.
Chandler finished with a dozen points to lead Kilauea as well as providing the pivotal top position from where her height gave her the vantage point to pass the ball to the open player.
Pond, the league’s MVP, finished with ten points in the win
