WAIMEA — The Kapa‘a Lady Warriors had the final say in their back-and-forth battle with the Waimea Lady Menehune, pulling out a 48-46 win at the Waimea High School gym, Friday night. Five lead changes in the final quarter highlighted
WAIMEA — The Kapa‘a Lady Warriors had the final say in their back-and-forth battle with the Waimea Lady Menehune, pulling out a 48-46 win at the Waimea High School gym, Friday night.
Five lead changes in the final quarter highlighted a strong comeback by Waimea, which trailed by as many as 13 points in the game. But Kapa‘a was able to hold off the charge in the closing minutes behind Mahea Hanie-Grace, who scored 12 of her game-high 19 points in the fourth, including nine of the team’s final 12.
She and Waimea’s Vakeesha Lagazo had a one-on-one battle going down the stretch as each was breaking full-court pressure and getting to the rack. Lagazo had 10 of her team-high 18 points in the fourth.
After a Cheyanne Duarte 3-pointer gave the Lady Menehune a 44-43 lead, Hanie-Grace went coast to coast for a lay-up and a one-point Kapa‘a lead.
The Lady Warriors then came up with a steal and Jessilyn Aki finished a lay-up for a three-point edge.
Lagazo drew her team back within one by nailing a pair of free throws with 24 seconds to play, but Waimea was unable to foul quickly and saw precious time tick off the clock before Hanie-Grace was finally sent to the line with just four seconds left in the game. She knocked down one of two and Reggie McCabe stole the Waimea inbounds pass to seal the win.
Aki had 14 points for Kapa‘a, while McCabe had nine. Ka‘anoi Marshall, Moana Leger and Mele Moala each had two points.
Brandee Victorino scored 12 for Waimea, while Searra Kaohi had seven, including a fourth-quarter 3-pointer.
Duarte added five points and Jayme Jacinto and Jazzy Bradbury had two apiece.
Lagazo and Jacinto each had three assists on the night.
Waimea shot 16-of-26 from the free-throw line, while Kapa‘a was 11-of-23.
Kapa‘a held a three-point lead after the first quarter, 11-8. The Warriors built upon that advantage in the second as Waimea struggled to handle the Kapa‘a full-court pressure.
Aki and Leger each had offensive rebounds and put backs for buckets in the second, helping Kapa‘a extend to a 26-15 lead at halftime.
Waimea came out in the second half much more aggressive and clamped down defensively. After scoring the third quarter’s first bucket, Kapa‘a was shut out for the rest of the frame as Waimea went on a 15-0 run to take a two-point lead at 30-28.
The Lady Menehune were just as aggressive offensively and scored nine of those 15 points at the foul line.
The two squads traded scores to start the fourth and a Kaohi 3-pointer gave Waimea a 35-34 lead, but Aki then got a bucket off a Hanie-Grace steal, who then got a lay-up of her own to give Kapa‘a a 38-35 advantage.
Lagazo scored six straight for Waimea and evened the score at 41-41 with a driving lay-up, before Duarte’s 3-pointer gave the Lady Menehune their final lead at 44-43 one trip later.
In the junior varsity game, Waimea pulled out a one-point win over Kapa‘a, 44-43.
Kaelyn Aquino knocked down three 3-pointers on her way to a team-high 11 points for Waimea. Jessica Soriano added nine and Nicole Palacio had eight.
Kekai Gonsalves led all scorers with 15 for Kapa‘a, while Lele Silva had 11.
Kapa‘a trailed 24-17 at halftime, but drew even with a 12-5 third quarter. Waimea had just enough at the end to hold on for the single-point victory.
The girls will be back on the court Tuesday, when Kaua‘i (1-1) has its home opener against Waimea (1-1). JV will take the court at 5:30 p.m. at Kaua‘i High School, followed by varsity.
Kapa‘a (2-0) will be at Island School (0-2) for a varsity-only matchup at 7 p.m.
