KALAHEO — A three-point play by Davone Florence with 15 seconds remaining in the game iced the Kalepa Hillsiders’ 51-48 win over Mixed Plate in the second of three Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association Boys 18 and Over games played at
KALAHEO — A three-point play by Davone Florence with 15 seconds remaining in the game iced the Kalepa Hillsiders’ 51-48 win over Mixed Plate in the second of three Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association Boys 18 and Over games played at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center, Tuesday.
Silas Tacsiat lit up the boards for a game-high 22 points to lead Notorious to a 48-45 edge in the opener.
Tab Matsumoto and Kawelo “Spam” Lindsey pulled Illmatic to a 46-22 win over Team 1 in the final match of the night.
Matsumoto finished with 14 points and Lindsey, one-third of the Lindsey brothers, finished with 11 points to keep the team’s undefeated record intact.
Team 1, missing the services of its player-coach Brendan McDaniels, got five points from Sean Inouye. Brenden Cristobal and P.J. Oligo each chipped in four points.
“We kind of let up late in the third period and fourth period,” said Russell Bocalbos who finished with a dozen points, second highest scoring below Tacsiat, for Notorious.
At one point, Notorious held an 11-point advantage over the Gee Unit who pulled themselves back into the game on a 15-7 final period, paced in part by Princeton Gee netting seven of his game-total 10 points in that period and guard Kekoa Prem hitting a bomb from outside the three-point arc that pulled the Gee Unit back in the game.
Prem finished with 14 points, followed by Willis Batol and Princeton Gee adding 10 points apiece.
During that time, Notorious was limited to just free throws before the buzzer ran out.
Following Tacsiat’s 22 points that included four three-balls, and Bocalbos’ dozen marks, Chad Koga, strong in the paint and making a difference for the Notorious defense, added seven points with tall man Cody Iwasaki finishing with six points.
Florence’s three-point play bulged the Kalepa margin to 50-45, but Mixed Plate’s Emery Souza found the net from outside the three-point line to pull the blackshirts to within a bucket, 50-48.
But Florence iced the win with just three ticks remaining on the clock by sinking the front end of a charity pair for the final math.
He finished the game with a game-high 21 points, including four three-balls, three coming in the second half. Clifton Asuncion, one of the Kalepa tall men added 10 points and Kapono Cummings finished with six points in the win.
R.J. Pillos topped the Mixed Plate effort with 16 points including a pair of treys followed by Souza with 15 points, including three from outside the three-point mark. Kekoa Colipano, looking to fill one of the guard slots for Kapa‘a High School when school resumes, added nine points and Trent Thompson finished with five marks.
KYBA takes to the courts on Thursday with the playoffs for the Girls 17 and Under league starting at 7:30 p.m. when the Gee’s Angels, top seed in the league, meets up with No. 4 seed Kaulupono. That match will be followed by the No. 2 seed Kapa‘a Titaz taking on Waimea at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
