Kapa‘a’s Tori Tuttle finished with a game-high 22 points, but the Junior Warriors came up 8 points short in a 48-40 loss to the Junior Raiders last Friday night. “They were tough on the inside, tonight,” said Darrell Borrero, one
Kapa‘a’s Tori Tuttle finished with a game-high 22 points, but the Junior Warriors came up 8 points short in a 48-40 loss to the Junior Raiders last Friday night.
“They were tough on the inside, tonight,” said Darrell Borrero, one of the Kaua‘i assistant coaches following their fourth straight victory this season. “They played us tough. We won, but only by 8 points.”
Kaua‘i came out blazing in the opening stanza with Janessa Grady fueling the scoring with 8 points, including 2-for-4 from the charity stripe as the JV girls in red closed the frame 15-2, Kapa‘a’s only goal coming from Tuttle.
But Kapa‘a answered with a 14-10 second frame as Tuttle ignited for a dozen points and a bucket from Lahela Creamer while holding Kaua‘i to just 2 buckets. Those were big nets for Kaua‘i, though, as Jaimee Mariano and Grady hit the hoop from outside the three-point arc for a 25-16 halftime lead.
Battling through a 13-13 third period, Kapa‘a outscored Kaua‘i 11-10 in the final frame, but the effort fell short despite the Warriors getting treys from Kira Nakamura and Jodi Das. Leinaala McCabe picked up her game-total 5 points in that frame as well.
Kaua‘i’s productivity was limited to a pair of buckets from Kanani Dreier and one from Grady with the remainder of the scoring coming from the free throw line.
Grady topped the scoring for Kaua‘i with 18 points followed by Jori-Anne Jasper adding 11 points. Dreier finished with 9 points and Mariano ended with 7 points. A pair from Christina Banach who was nursing an injury following the game, and a digit from Alyssa Carvalho closed the book.
Tuttle’s effort was helped along by McCabe and Creamer who both finished with 5 points. Nakamura was held to just 4 points, Jodi Das nailed a trey and a digit from Ash-Lyn Lee rounded out the Kapa‘a effort.
Round two started last night between Kapa‘a and Waimea.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
