Kapa‘a 30, Waimea 22 WAIMEA — Only one word described the night for Kapa‘a High School head coach Terri Maguire as the team won the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation title: “Incredible.” The Lady Warriors won their fifth straight game last night,
Kapa‘a 30, Waimea 22
WAIMEA — Only one word described the night for Kapa‘a High School head coach Terri Maguire as the team won the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation title: “Incredible.”
The Lady Warriors won their fifth straight game last night, defeated the defending KIF champions the Lady Menehune 30-22 last night at the Clem Gomes Gym.
The Lady Warriors were able to band together and win despite the absence of one of their dominant players, Destiny Smith, on the court, who sat out because of illness. They would later play their last quarter without another key player Leilani Laranio who went out with a shoulder injury.
Still, Kapa‘a came up with the big defensive plays when needed to hold off Waimea — even keeping them from scoring a single field goal in the third quarter.
Tori Tuttle posted two of her total four blocks in the third quarter. Jondi Das posted three of her total five blocks also in that quarter.
Waimea, though, was able to hold Kapa‘a’s leading scorer Mai’lika Napoleon to only four points in the first half. Napoleon still led the Lady Warriors finishing with 12 points and three blocks.
Both teams were stuck at 16 apiece going into and halfway through the fourth quarter until Waimea’s Jayme Jacinto caught the inside pass from Cheri Kua to put the Lady Menehune up by 2 points.
Neither team led by more than 4 points until the later in the fourth when Das was sent to the foul line for the fourth time of the night. After missing the first, she banked the second giving them a 5-point lead.
Waimea’s Aiko Grande answered that with her second 3-pointer of the night to bring the score to 26-22 with 40 seconds left to go. Grande led Waimea finishing with 8 points and 11 rebounds. Erin Connelly finished with 6 points, five rebounds, three blocks, a steal and an assist.
Das finished the game with 6 points, five rebounds, and two steals.
With the win, Kapa‘a advances to the Hawaiian Airlines Division II State Basketball Championships on O‘ahu.
