KAPA‘A — The Kaua‘i Red Raiders picked up their second win of the 5th Annual Kapa‘a Varsity Boys Basketball Tournament with a 55-42 topping of King Kekaulike, Tuesday night at the Bernice Hundley Gym at Kapa‘a High School. Devon Florence
KAPA‘A — The Kaua‘i Red Raiders picked up their second win of the 5th Annual Kapa‘a Varsity Boys Basketball Tournament with a 55-42 topping of King Kekaulike, Tuesday night at the Bernice Hundley Gym at Kapa‘a High School.
Devon Florence led all scorers with 23 points and went on a personal run during a key stretch in the fourth quarter to put the win on ice.
The Raiders showed early on they wanted to keep the tempo up and try to get out on the fast break as much as possible. They found each other for open buckets from the start and took a 7-2 lead, thanks to their run and gun approach.
King Kekaulike managed to settle in and play more consistent after putting themselves in the hole, but trailed 16-10 at the end of the first quarter.
Kaua‘i mixed up its defenses, but was content to play mostly man to man, which King Kekaulike tried to counter with a motion offense.
Though the Raiders were getting almost all their points in transition, they were not using much full-court pressure, relying on their defense and rebounding to lead them into the fast break.
Bradey Norman kept King Kekaulike close with his inside play and soft shooting touch around the paint. He also showed his range late in the game by stepping outside and knocking down a 3-pointer.
Kaua‘i led 30-22 at halftime and began to occasionally pick up full court in the second half.
Florence got into foul trouble in the third quarter, at which point Brian Andres began to take over and assert himself more offensively.
The Raiders maintained their eight-point lead at 39-31 going into the fourth quarter, but King Kekaulike scored the first four points of the period to cut the deficit to four, the smallest margin since the early portion of the game.
Kaua‘i managed to respond with a 12-2 run to put the game away. It got 10 straight points from Florence, including back-to-back 3-pointers.
After struggling from the free-throw line most of the game, Kaua‘i made most of its attempts in the final minutes to ensure the victory.
Andres was the Raiders’ second-leading scorer with 12 points.
In the night’s final game, the Kapa‘a Warriors were beaten by McKinley, 49-34.
Duke Pauli led the Warriors with 14 points, while McKinley’s Jason Ramano led all scorers with 18 points. Pryson Wallace chipped in with 13 for McKinley.
The McKinley victory puts them into the championship game today against Kaua‘i, which will be played at 1:30 p.m.
That game will be the fourth and final game of the day, all taking place at the Bernice Hundley Gym.
Starting off the quadruple-header will be Kamehameha DII vs. LeJardine at 9:30 a.m. Each team has split their two games so far.
Then the Waimea Menehune will take on the Island School Voyagers at 10:30 a.m.
Earlier in the Tuesday’s action, Waimea and Island each suffered their second losses of the tournament. Waimea lost a close battle with LeJardine, 46-40, while Island fell to Kamehameha, 59-32.
Then host team Kapa‘a will take on King Kekaulike at 12 p.m., prior to the championship game.
