the garden island KAPA‘A — Back-to-back buckets by David Mendes pulled Kapa‘a to within 7 points Tuesday night, but they would get no closer. The Menehune surged on back-to-back scores of their own from Rolden Villanueva and Dana Tayco and
the garden island
KAPA‘A — Back-to-back buckets by David Mendes pulled Kapa‘a to within 7 points Tuesday night, but they would get no closer.
The Menehune surged on back-to-back scores of their own from Rolden Villanueva and Dana Tayco and pulled away for a 66-53 win, opening Round 2 of KIF basketball on a winning note.
Kapa‘a took a 14-13 lead late in the opening quarter on buckets from John Beralas and Matt Lindsey, but a charity pair by Bradley Frasco pulled Waimea into the lead in the second period and the Menehune, KIF Round 1 champs, never looked back.
Working through heavy traffic, Chris Newcomb finished with a game-high 20 points to lead the Menehune.
The Warriors’ David Mendes found the mark in the final period, netting 10 of his team-high 18 points, mostly on bull moves and clean-up duty.
Beralas finished with 13 points, followed by Kekoa Prem and Daniel Lizama adding 7 points each for Kapa‘a.
Following Newcomb, Waimea got a dozen points from Rolden Villanueva, who hustled his way off the bench to net 8 in the second half.
Kyle Achuela got a field goal and was 5-of-7 from the free throw line for 7 marks. Calsen Agrade and Tayco chipped in 6 points each to round out the Waimea leaders.
Waimea is 1-0 with the win and hosts Kaua‘i High School Friday night at the Clem Gomes Gym.
Tipoff for the junior varsity contest is 5:30 p.m.; varsity tips off 20 minutes after the completion of the JV game.
Anahola Joel Pahukula will provide play-by-play live broadcast of the varsity game on KQNG AM570.
