KAPA‘A — The Kapa‘a Warriors were too much for the Island School Voyagers to handle and ran away with a 57-19 victory, moving to 2-1 in KIF play Wednesday night at the Kapa‘a High School Gym. Warriors big man Duke
KAPA‘A — The Kapa‘a Warriors were too much for the Island School Voyagers to handle and ran away with a 57-19 victory, moving to 2-1 in KIF play Wednesday night at the Kapa‘a High School Gym.
Warriors big man Duke Pauli led all scorers with 18 points. Kekoa Colipano followed with eight and Willis Batol had six for Kapa‘a.
Makana Ledesma was the high-point man for Island with six. Kyle Lee, Jay Louis and Brandon Taylor each scored four points.
Kapa‘a used a 21-0 run in the fourth quarter to eliminate any doubt, after Island had put together a 10-2 run of its own to close the third quarter, making it a 36-19 game entering the final period.
A slow start for both teams was in part due to each coming out in zone defenses and neither able to knock down shots early in the first.
Colipano hit a 3-pointer to put the Warriors up 6-4, a lead which they did not relinquish for the rest of the night. They scored the next nine points to go up 15-4.
Colipano made a nice feed to Pauli for a layup, then finished one himself on the break to extend to a 24-7 Kapa‘a advantage.
After leading 25-9 at halftime, Kapa‘a then used a 9-0 run to begin the third to create its biggest margin to that point in the game. The Warriors subbed out all five starters and Island was able to put together a push that cut the deficit back to 17 entering the fourth.
The Warriors starters re-entered and quickly upped the lead to 34 before giving way to the second unit, once again. They managed to hold Island scoreless in the final quarter.
Kapa‘a’s 1-2-2 zone made life difficult on Island’s flex-style offense and the Voyagers managed to get most of their points from the free-throw line.
Across town, the Waimea Menehune took to the hardwood to face off with the Kaua‘i Red Raiders at the Waimea High School Gym.
The Raiders came away with a 62-54 victory, after Waimea made a late rally behind the play of Bransen Agu.
The Menehune closed to within four points after trailing by as many as 16, but Davone Florence and Kaua‘i made their free throws to seal the victory and improve to 2-0 on the young season.
All four teams will be back in action Saturday, as Kapa‘a again plays host to Waimea. The JV game begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by varsity.
Kaua‘i heads home to face Island in a varsity matchup at 5:30 p.m. at Kaua‘i High School.
