KALAHEO — Kalawai‘a Judd came up with 10 big second-half points for Papalina-Blue to lead the Kalaheo team to a 38-34 overtime edge over Westside, Monday night at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center. Earlier in the night, Hanakila’s Cole Guy finished
KALAHEO — Kalawai‘a Judd came up with 10 big second-half points for Papalina-Blue to lead the Kalaheo team to a 38-34 overtime edge over Westside, Monday night at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
Earlier in the night, Hanakila’s Cole Guy finished with 12 points in the Kilauea team’s 46-15 win over Ho‘ouila, which got seven sixth-period points from Tommy Paulwin.
Ho‘ouila’s speedy guard Kelvin Ganotisi was held scoreless, but contributed heavily to the yellowshirts’ effort with numerous defensive rebounds and the ability to move the ball downcourt.
“I only got four points tonight, but wait until our next game,” said Cov Ratcliffe, one of the low posts for Ho‘ouila who supplemented Ganotisi’s rebounding efforts.
Devan Ferreira, the other Ho‘ouila big man, finished with a pair. Arick Yasay and Inor Lautej each added a digit to the score that remained stuck at six until late in the final period before settling at 15.
That was a testament to the Hanakila defense that kept the yellowshirts at bay while working on a balanced offense, which saw A.J. Cummings, Jackson McCoulgh, and James Stevens finish with six points each following Guy’s lead.
Justin Apilado and Marlon Cudiamat, one of the Hanakila strong forwards, contributed four points apiece. Pairs from Trysten Dela Cruz, Christian Roslin, Dave Aguinaldo and Jed Ragudo rounded out the win.
Jake Herbig of Papalina-Blue said anyone playing against Hanakila needs a strong forward to match Cudiamat’s expertise in the paint.
Herbig caught the waning minutes of the Hanakila game before taking the court against Westside, which took a 4-2 bulge after the first six minutes of play, much to the dismay of Casey Fernandez and Kairey Bermoy-Banasihan, sixth grade students from Waimea Canyon Middle School who were rooting for Papalina.
The two sixth graders and Kiarra Palacio, a fourth grader from ‘Ele‘ele who plays for the Kaulupono 13 and Under girls, had much to cheer about as Papalina-Blue answered with a 7-0 run in the second period behind five points from guard Jessem Cumlat, including a three-ball.
Westside answered with a 9-2 third frame led by Derron Sagucio, one of its tall men, and the see-saw continued through the remainder of regulation play.
“I’m going to eat my jacket by the time this is pau,” Fernandez screamed, the ties of her hood gripped in her teeth while Kiarra could only bury her face in her hands.
Cumlat capped a series of three-ball attempts with a swish at the 1:11 mark to pull Papalina-Blue to within a point, 31-30, only to have the Westside’s Mark Abalos respond with his trey attempt with less than a minute to play.
Curren Dillberg tried to weave through heavy traffic in the paint and drew the foul with 8.8 ticks remaining on the clock and the ensuing charity pair drove the three girls over the edge.
Dillberg’s first shot bounced harmless and when the second slipped through the twine, the young girls went into a frenzy with a round of what Fernandez described as “bloody knuckles.”
A Westside turnover in the final ticks saw Chavis Garma try for the three-ball only to have Abalos snag the rebound as the clock forced the two-minute overtime.
Papalina-Blue held Westside to just three points in the OT while Judd led the offense with four points. Dillberg followed with a three-ball that sealed the win as the clock ran out on Abalos’ run downcourt.
Cumlat and Judd paced the Papalina-Blue win with 10 points each followed by Dillberg’s nine. Noah Sasil added four and Garma was limited to a sixth frame three-ball. A pair from Jake Herbig rounded out the win.
Abalos set the pace for Westside with a game-high 13 points, including seven in the sixth and OT frames. Derron Sagucio followed with eight and Christian Acob added six. Pairs from Chris Corpuz and Jed Lagoc and a digit from Jamin Fernandez rounded out the effort.
Ho‘ouila next faces the Kaua‘i Ballers, Saturday starting at 11 a.m. at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center. That game will be preceded by Papalina-Grey taking on the Westside starting at 10 a.m.
The Kaulupono girls tip off against Westside, Thursday starting at 6 p.m. followed by the Kamikaze tangling with the Angels starting at 7 p.m.
