Kapa‘a girls force KIF playoff

Kapa‘a 49, Waimea 40

KAPA‘A — The Kapa‘a High School girls basketball team forced a playoff for the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation title last night defeating Round 1 champions, Waimea High School 49-40 at the Bernice Hundley Gym.

The Warriors (4-0 Round 2, 6-2 overall) were led by Destiny Smith and Mai’lika Napoleon.

Smith finished the night with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Napoleon also finished with a double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks, four assists and two steals.

Leilani Laranio finished with 9 point, four rebounds, two steals, two assists and was 3-for-4 from the foul line.

Waimea (2-2, 6-2) was able to come up with some big plays to keep them in the game all the way through. The combination of Kierra Barba and Jayme Jacinto seemed to work great as Barba fed Jacinto three times, each of those resulting in 3-pointers by Jacinto.

Barba, although only scoring 2 points, was effective around the court finishing with five rebounds, four steals and five assists. Jacinto had 12 points — all of them coming from outside the arch.

Cheri Kua was the Menehune’s big scorer of the night with 11 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

Waimea was up 4 points going into the half, but the Menehune nearly fumbled under the pressure being outscored in the next two quarters.

The two teams must face off again on Tuesday in Waimea for the KIF title and the single berth into the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Division II State Girls Basketball Championships on O‘ahu.

In the earlier, junior varsity game, Kapa‘a defeated Waimea 43-21.

The Warriors were led by Justine Holt who finished with 16 points. Kira Nakamura finished with 12 points.

The Menehune spread out its offensive attack with Searra Kaohi, Jondelle Acceret-Ipac, and Charlyn Ortiz finishing with 4 points each.

This ends the season for the junior varsity games.

• Lanaly Cabalo, sports editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or lcabalo@kauaipubco.com.