KAPA‘A — A turnover with 18 seconds on the clock proved costly to the Westside Blue who dropped a 36-34 contest to Kalaheo Tuesday night in Kapa‘a. That was just one of three games played in the 3 G’s Nation
KAPA‘A — A turnover with 18 seconds on the clock proved costly to the Westside Blue who dropped a 36-34 contest to Kalaheo Tuesday night in Kapa‘a.
That was just one of three games played in the 3 G’s Nation 18 and Under non-competitive basketball league.
In the earlier matchup, Kapa‘a never looked back from its 12-5 opening quarter en route to a 69-31 win over the Gee Unit. In the last game, an 18 and Under girls match, Joanna Andres finished with a game-high 11 points to lead Waimea to a 32-11 showing over the Lihu‘e Kamikaze.
A father-son coaching combination was put to the test in the Kalaheo-Westside Blue matchup as Westside Blue called a time out with a minute left to play, down by two points, 36-34.
When play resumed, Westside Blue controlled the ball and worked for the go-ahead, but Kalaheo’s Devin Tavana, home for the summer from college, slipped his long arms behind the Westside ball handler and forced the turnover.
The quick Kalaheo team eluded the foul, chewing up valuable seconds before letting the clock run out on the win.
“Devin still has that soft touch,” Westside coach Steven Matsumoto said. “But he’s lost some weight from his high school days. You should see him, now.”
Steven’s son Tab was at the helm of the Kalaheo team which featured the talents of Kaua‘i High School standouts Jeremy Robinson, Tyrus Ceria-Lux and Waimea leaders Braxton Garma and Keelan Sakuda.
Tab lost little time letting the talent rule the court, and in a game featuring two blueshirts, Kalaheo an 18-14 lead, Westside’s Chris Salvador nailing a trey followed by a bucket to keep them in the fray.
Kalen Kali-Abihai exploded for the Westside in the second half, and behind 11 points in the third quarter, the Westside surged past Kalaheo 12-5.
Kalaheo answered and held off the final minute comeback effort by Westside. Robinson and Garma paced the Kalaheo victory with 8 and 7 points, respectively, followed by Ikaika Rowan and Tavana each netting 5 points. Sakuda added 4 points with Ceria-Lux, Kalen Kakutani and Sean Inouye each netting a pair.
Kali-Abihai finished with a game-high 21 points, 14 marks coming in the second half. Salvador finished with 8 points including a key three-pointer in the fourth period that kept Westside in the match. Brycen Kato and Dayton Bayot each netted a pair and a digit from Bransen Agu rounded out the effort.
Kekoa Prem finished with 12 points, Kaleo Cummings tucked away 11 points and Duke Pauli ended with 10 points to lead the Kapa‘a scoring.
Cody Abigania added 7 points, Bryson Gonsalves and Spam Lindsey each contributed 6 points and Keane Agoot had 5 points to round out the Kapa‘a scoring leaders.
Justin Ramos and Devone Florence each finished with 8 points to lead the Gee Unit. The pair was followed by Winston Gee and Donavan Harrison netting 6 and 5 points, respectively.
Kori Sakamoto followed Andres in the girls’ match scoring with 6 points. Bristy-Ann Agu finished with 4 points followed by Aiko Grande and Kierra Barba adding 3 points each.
Kira Taylan paced the Kamikaze effort with 3 points followed by Lacey Lucas, Lauren James, Kawehi Louis-Diamond and Lian Gregorio each netting a pair.
