KALAHEO — Kaleo Cummings may have had only one basket in the second half, but ignited the Kalepa Hillsiders who held off Wailua for a 44-39 win. That game was the tail end of an exciting night of basketball for
KALAHEO — Kaleo Cummings may have had only one basket in the second half, but ignited the Kalepa Hillsiders who held off Wailua for a 44-39 win.
That game was the tail end of an exciting night of basketball for the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center, where Southwest Boyz A slipped past Southwest Boyz B, 47-45 in the opener.
Clareson Torries was on fire for the A team, firing 14 of his game-high 19 points in the first half. That included a pair from outside the three-point arc. That led the A team to a 32-25 half-time lead.
But the B team wouldn’t succumb, and charged back into the fray with a 13-8 third period behind four points apiece from Xavier Guirao and James Sagucio.
Kalen Kali-Abihai, who led the B team with 8 points in the first half, was limited to just a pair in the second half, and combining with a 6-point effort from Braxton Garma, the B team fell short by a pair at the buzzer.
Kali-Abihai and Garma led the B team effort with 10 points each followed by Sagucio with 6 points. McDonald Alop and Ikaika Rowan each netted 4 points and pairs from Kasey Okihara and Javin Balisacan rounded out the effort.
Kalen Kakutani launched four three-point bombs en route to his 14 points to help lead the A team victory. He followed Torres who finished with 19 points. Brycen Kato netted 5 points, Kyle Achuela had 4 points with Keenan Sakuda and Brenden Cristobal each netting a pair.
A digit from Zachary Gardien rounded out the victory.
In the Kalepa win that preserves the yellowshirts’ undefeated streak, Cummings and John Beralas teamed to lead the squad past Wailua. Cummings finished with 15 points followed by Beralas netting 14 points, with just one coming from outside the arc.
Pono Cummings scooping layup put Kalepa on top 40-36 with just 30 seconds showing on the game clock, but Wailua answered on a Matt Lindsey trey that pulled the greenshirts right back in, 40-39.
Following a defensive skirmish for ball control and a last-second bucket attempt, Travis Stine sealed the game for Kalepa with a charity pair with just three ticks remaining.
Stein finished with 8 points, Cummings ended with 6 points and a pair from Ian Lactaotao rounded out the win.
Lindsey topped the Wailua effort with 13 points followed by Cody Abigania adding a dozen marks.
David Mendes followed with 6 points, Brandon Chong added 4 points. David Chong and Curran Doctolero finished with a pair each to round out the effort.
The next KYBA 18 Under games will be Tuesday night at Kalaheo for three games, two boy’s contests and a girl’s game.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
