WAIMEA — Saturday night was a similar script to Waimea’s previous Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation game, as the Menehune fell behind early, made a strong run in the late stages but could not overcome that sizeable deficit. The Kapa‘a Warriors took
WAIMEA — Saturday night was a similar script to Waimea’s previous Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation game, as the Menehune fell behind early, made a strong run in the late stages but could not overcome that sizeable deficit.
The Kapa‘a Warriors took advantage in a 52-42 win at the Waimea High School Gym that evolved into a scoring battle between Warriors big man Duke Pauli and Menehune swing man Malcolm Carter.
Pauli and Spam Lindsey tied for team high with 13 points apiece. Stephen Greenleaf followed with eight, while Bradley Coloma and Sean Shigematsu each had six.
Kekoa Colipano and Jefferson Harper scored four and two points, respectively.
Carter was the night’s high scorer with 20 points, scoring 10 in the second quarter and another 10 in the fourth.
Xavier Guirao followed with 11, Bransen Agu had nine and Micah Rita scored two.
Kapa‘a raced out to a 20-7 advantage at the end of one, as six different Warriors other than Pauli scored first-quarter buckets.
Waimea started its climb back into the game with a 12-2 run, including eight points from Carter, to make it a 24-19 contest.
The Warriors withstood the charge and held a 33-24 lead at halftime.
Carter picked up his third foul early in the third quarter and went to the bench for the remainder of the period. His absence put a dent in the Menehune’s output and the team managed just six points in the quarter.
Luckily for Waimea, the Kapa‘a offense struggled just as much, especially after Pauli picked up his fourth foul at the four-minute mark of the quarter and headed to the bench.
Guirao knocked down a 3-pointer to make it a 37-30 game at the end of three quarters.
Both Carter and Pauli were back on the court to start the fourth and each was again the focal point of the offense.
Lindsey knocked down a three to put his team up 40-32. Those were the first points for Kapa‘a in over 5 1/2 minutes of action.
Carter hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull his team within six at 44-38, forcing a Kapa‘a timeout.
The Warriors responded by milking the clock and hitting the offensive glass. Pauli finished two straight trips with offensive rebounds and layups, followed by a Lindsey offensive putback, which put the game out of reach.
The win moves Kapa‘a to 3-0 in the second round of the season. Waimea falls to 1-2.
The Kaua‘i Red Raiders had to go without their leading scorer, as Davone Florence was in street clothes nursing an injury and watched his teammates come away with a 54-38 over the Island School Voyagers at Island School.
Guard Bryan Andres led the Raiders (2-1 in second round) with 12 points, followed by Joe Duronslet’s nine and Austin Simao’s eight. Cody Mordan had seven, while Cameron Largusa and Alden Ho each added six.
Cody Iwasaki and Pono Cummings had four and two points, respectively.
Brandon Taylor led the Voyagers (0-3) with 12 points. Canaan Higa scored 11, while Brennan Wortman had eight.
Kyle Lee notched four and Makana Ledesma added three.
The teams played a tight first half and went to the locker room knotted up at 21-21.
However, the Raiders got hot in the second half and put up 33 points to Island’s 17 to create the final margin.
In JV action at Waimea, the Menehune’s Kaili Lagundino put on a show with 32 points in their 63-57 win over Kapa‘a.
Waimea raced ahead 39-14 at halftime, then hung on as Kapa‘a made a furious second-half comeback.
Daniel Reis led the Warriors’ effort with 16 points.
Wednesday night is appearing to be a must-win for Kaua‘i now as it will host Kapa‘a at the Kaua‘i High School Gym. JV will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by varsity.
The Voyagers will host the Menehune varsity at 5:30 p.m. at the Island School Gym.
