KALAHEO — Kaulupono Girl Vakeesha Lagazo snagged a rebound and put it back with just over 20 seconds remaining in the game. That clinched a 28-27 overtime win for Kaulupono Girls over the Island Heat in the county’s 13 and
KALAHEO — Kaulupono Girl Vakeesha Lagazo snagged a rebound and put it back with just over 20 seconds remaining in the game.
That clinched a 28-27 overtime win for Kaulupono Girls over the Island Heat in the county’s 13 and Under girls basketball league played at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center, Thursday night.
In an earlier contest, Kawehi Louis-Diamond finished with 13 points and Lacey Lucas added 10 points as the Lihu‘e Kamakaze flew over Wailua, 37-16. Kekai Gonsalves netted 10 points to lead Wailua in that effort.
Gee’s Angels’ guard Kristle Henry put in 19 points to lead the Angels to a 44-18 showing over the Kilauea Hui in the final game of the night. In that effort, Rachel Hinkle came off the bench to finish with 11 points to pace the Hui effort.
With the Boys 13 Under counterpart Westside White and Blue players cheering them on, Kaulupono Girls relied on Lagazo to set the pace for the game as the guard finished with a game-high 14 points, 6 coming in the final period where the lead kept exchanging hands as the clock ticked down.
Island Heat kept pace with Kaulupono throughout the contest, coming back from a 10-8 halftime deficit to outshoot Kaulupono in the fourth period 6-5 for 15-14 deficit.
Taylor Garcia set the pace for the Heat in both the third and fourth periods, netting 4 points in each of those two periods en route to a game-total 10 points.
Makana Fujimoto netted all of her game’s 4 points in the fifth period when the Heat picked up the lead for the first time, 18-16 at the buzzer to set the stage for the final period exchange which ended in a 21-21 stalemate to force the overtime when Cheyenne Duarte took a pass from Lagazo and netted the sphere with just four ticks remaining.
Lagazo controlled the overtime with six of her game-total points coming in the 2-minute period.
The Heat continued to battle, and with 1:23 remaining tied the contest for the final time when Makana Fujimoto dropped the tail end of a charity pair for the 23-23 tie.
Kylie Barba dropped the 3-point bomb, the only one in the contest, for the Heat with less than a minute left for its final lead before Lagazo put the game away.
Lagazo and Duarte paced the Kaulupono win with 14 and 8 points, respectively.
Garcia topped the Heat scoring with 10 points followed by Jennifer Grady and Barba finishing with 5 points each. Fujimoto finished with 4 points and Shay Orial had a pair before leaving the contest on an injury.
The Heat meets Wailua in the first of two games today at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center starting at 9 a.m. The second game will see the Kamakaze matching up with Kaulupono Girls starting at 10 a.m.
Gee’s Angels 44,
Kilauea Hui 18
Angels: Kristle Henry 19, Joy Claypoole 2, Raquel Matayoshi 9, Reggie McCabe 8, Lauren Claypoole 2, Riana Ralston 2.
Kilauea: Rachel Hinkle 11, Shawn Villatora 3, Paulette Guerro 2, Kanoe Kuwabara 2.
Kaulupono Girls 28,
Island Heat 27
Kaulupono: Vakeesha Lagazo 14, Juilynn Ramos 2, Rea Plotado 3, Nicolei Banasihan 1, Cheyenne Duarte 8.
Island Heat: Kylie Barba 5, Jennifer Grady 5, Makana Fujimoto 4, Taylor Garcia 10. Shay Orial 2.
Lihu‘e Kamakaze 37,
Wailua 16
Kamakaze: Lacey Lucas 10, Bristy-Ann Agu 7, Pili Chung 3, Alexis Hernandez 4, Kawehi Louis-Diamond 13.
Wailua: Kekai Gonsalves 10, Katelina Fifita 2, Malani Lum 2, Melanie 2.
