KALAHEO — The three-ball broke swung the momentum to the F-N-G girls en route to the championship of the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association Girls 18 and Over division, Saturday night. F-N-G went to the long distance bombs to break open
KALAHEO — The three-ball broke swung the momentum to the F-N-G girls en route to the championship of the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association Girls 18 and Over division, Saturday night.
F-N-G went to the long distance bombs to break open the game late in the third quarter en route to a 36-27 win in a highly-defensive slugfest for the title.
Earlier, another defensive slugfest ended when the Kilauea Hui took control of a 36-35 see-saw over Wailua for the league’s third place honors.
Carie Inouye, voted the league’s Most Valuable Player, broke open the F-N-G offensive when she launched a trey, her second of the game, late in the period.
Sheana Mata followed by netting another two three-balls, her only scores of the night, in the final period to pull F-N-G ahead for good.
“When you have the game tied 13-13 at the half, and 5-5 after one period, you know you have a good game,” said Ron Garlie, father of F-N-G’s low post Erin Garlie, following the win. “It was pretty much like that through the third period and F-N-G only had a three-point lead (19-16).”
Pop It, matching up well against the No. 1 seed F-N-G, went to Ashlee Vea who came off the bench to finish with high-score honors for the blueshirts at 10 points, including a pair of sorely-needed three-balls in the final period.
But the strong F-N-G defense limited Pop It to just four other buckets through the match.
Kate Conarroe opened the scorebooks with a bucket and was held to just a charity pair en route to her four points. That was matched by Virginia Aguilar who battled with F-N-G’s Erin Garlie throughout the night in a battle of the titans in the paint.
Garlie finished with 10 points, second only to Carie Inouye’s game-high 15 points. Mata followed with her final-period pair of treys for six points, Rachael Taira, the playmaker for F-N-G, added three and a pair from Cory Arashiro, forcing several key turnovers on Pop It drives as a defensive guard, added a charity pair.
Wailua came back to outgun the Hui, 21-18 in the second half, but fell short on the 18-14 Hui lead at the half.
With the scores see-sawing throughout the evening, no team extended the lead beyond the four-point margin.
Kapua Chandler finished with a game-high 18 points for the Hui, including the critical six points in the final period that swayed the game in the Hui’s favor.
Layna Christian and her solid play on both sides of the ball, added 10 points in the win followed by Caroline Troutman with four points and a strong defensive showing. Sarah Tangalin added a pair and Chandler erupted in jubilation when Natalie Kuroiwa netted a bucket on a long pass downcourt.
Kuroiwa suffered an injury in the playoffs that stifled her mobility during the final round, but effectively served as the pivotal player in moving the ball around.
Wailua went to the three-ball to stay in the match, getting one each from Jaimee Mariano, Kelsey Cadiente, Hanalei Gomes and Kira Taylan. Three of those came in the second half when the greenshirts outgunned Kilauea.
Kelsey Cadiente finished the game with high-point honors with nine points followed by Gomes, Kathleen Cadiente and Leilani Laranio each netting six points. Mariano finished with five and Taylan’s trey rounded out the scoring.
Joining Carie Inouye on the victorious F-N-G are Tatum Gonsalves, Elisa Inouye, Mata, Arashiro, Kori Masuda, Tahnee Shigematsu, Taira, Garlie, and Kierra Barba, Natalie Mata and Cheri Kua who were already en route back to school. Tristan Shigematsu is the coach.
