Kapa‘a 66, Word of Life 58 Kekoa Prem led the Kapa‘a High School Warrior basketball team to its first state tournament opening-round win in 10 years. Not since the 1999 Kapa‘a Warriors has a boys Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation team advanced
Kapa‘a 66, Word of Life 58
Kekoa Prem led the Kapa‘a High School Warrior basketball team to its first state tournament opening-round win in 10 years.
Not since the 1999 Kapa‘a Warriors has a boys Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation team advanced passed the first round of the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Division II State Basketball Championships.
Prem finished the night with 24 points, 12 rebounds and was 10-for-12 from the free throw line and the Warriors (8-3) beat Word of Life on Wednesday night, 66-58, at Farrington High School on O‘ahu.
Thomas Gausepohl added nine points and seven rebounds. Duke Pauli snagged 10 rebounds.
The Warriors and the Firebrands (9-7) were nearly neck-and-neck in the beginning of the game with the Firebrands edging it out in the first quarter 17-16. Kapa‘a would then close the half with a slight lead at 34-33. Only a point separated the two heading into the game’s final quarter, with the lead held again by Kapa‘a.
It was in the fourth quarter when the Warriors really began to breakaway, leading as many as 10 points with less than a minute left to go.
The Warriors now advance to the quarterfinal round to play No. 1 Castle (15-2) at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Farrington.
