KILAUEA — A three-point play by Crystal Ijima with just 12 seconds left in the second overtime was the cherry on the whipped cream for Lihu‘e Kamikaze’s 44-39 win over Wailua, Monday night. That excitement opened up the Kaua‘i Youth
KILAUEA — A three-point play by Crystal Ijima with just 12 seconds left in the second overtime was the cherry on the whipped cream for Lihu‘e Kamikaze’s 44-39 win over Wailua, Monday night.
That excitement opened up the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association’s 18 and Under girls season at the Kilauea Neighborhood Center. Following the double overtime victory, the Kilauea Hui turned on their cannons in the final two minutes to outdistance Kaulupono Girls 24-17 in game two.
“It’s going to be a great season,” Bill Troutman, the father of one of the Kilauea Hui’s players, said as he watched Wailua and Lihu‘e battle in the second half.
That sentiment was echoed by several other spectators as the Kamikaze battled back from a 23-20 halftime deficit.
Maureen Sibolboro, finishing the night 4-for-4 at the charity line, nailed two free throws and added a bucket to lead the Kamikaze 8-2 for a third period comeback.
Buckets from Lacey Lucas and Jaimee Mariano completed the offense while the Lihu‘e defense held Wailua to a bucket from Martha Boiser, her sole score in the contest.
Kira Nakamura caught fire for Wailua in the final regulation frame, nailing three buckets in the greenshirts’ 10-7 run. Chelsie Villatora added a bucket and Destiny Smith locked up everything with a shot from 11 o’clock that stalemated the match 35-35.
Lihu‘e had several windows, including a free throw, but couldn’t close the door to force the OT where Smith nailed two more buckets that were answered by Mariano and Sibolboro’s second charity pair to force the second OT where Ijima scored all five of the Lihu‘e points.
Ijima finished with high-point honors for the Kamikaze at 11 points followed by Mariano finishing with 10 points including a pair from beyond the three-point arc.
Sibolboro added 8 points followed by Bristy Ann Agu contributing 6 points on two treys. Kira Taylan also netted a trey and pairs from Lucas and Lauren James rounded out the Lihu‘e math.
Smith finished with a game-high 15 points in the Wailua effort followed by Nakamura’s 8 points. Chanita Makanui added 6 points along with a lot of hustle in the paint, Villatora finished with 4 points and pairs from Hanalei Gomes, Rose Ebinger and Boiser rounded out the effort.
The Kilauea Hui turned on the guns in the final two minutes of play to complete an 11-5 fourth period run to break open the game that was ruled by defense.
Claire Owens led the Hui final-frame charge with 3 points followed by Kapua Chandler, Caroline Troutman, Kieren Pond and April Johnson all adding buckets while the defense held Kaulupono to a pair of buckets from Jayme Jacinto and a digit from Kori Sakamoto.
Jacinto finished with a game-high 8 points in the Westside effort followed by Lorrine Lagoc-Agrade adding 4 points. Joanna Andres and Mollie Connelly finished with a pair each with Sakamoto’s digit rounding out the effort.
Owens topped the Hui scoring with 5 points followed by Kimiko Kuwabara, Kirstie Daly and Chandler adding 4 points each.
Pond finished with 3 points and the final-period pairs from Troutman and Johnson rounded out the math.
