Lady Warriors stay unbeaten

Kapa‘a pulls out road win at Raider Dome, 46-42

LIHU‘E — Kapa‘a came through at the foul line to close out a big win over Kaua‘i, Friday night at the Kaua‘i High School gym.

The Lady Warriors knocked down 5-of-6 free throws in the final 40 seconds on their way to a 46-42 win over the Red Raiders, holding on to sole possession of first place in the league standings.

Kapa‘a (4-0) led 42-41 when Mahea Hanie-Grace was fouled with 26 seconds to play. She calmly knocked down the pair to give her team a three-point margin.

Kaua‘i (2-2) attacked the paint and Bristy-Ann Agu was fouled with 12.7 seconds showing. She knocked down 1-of-2 to make it a 44-42 game.

The Raiders took a while to commit a foul and stop the clock, mainly because Kristle Henry, the team’s top offensive threat, knew she had four fouls. She was yelling for another teammate to come make the stoppage. the foul finally occurring with just 4.5 seconds remaining.

Ka‘anoi Marshall stepped up and nailed both from the line to ice the game.

The Warriors’ balanced scoring attack was led by Hanie-Grace’s game-high 15 points, which included a pair of 3-pointers.

Reggie McCabe had nine for Kapa‘a, while Jessilyn Aki had eight. Raquelle Matayoshi and Marshall had five points apiece and Moana Leger added four.

Henry led Kaua‘i with 13 points, knocking down her final seven free throws after missing her first two.

Uila Ahosivi had nine points, including five straight in the fourth quarter that cut a seven-point deficit to two. Bristy-Ann Agu had seven, while Kawehi Louis-Diamond had six points. Kelsey Cadiente and Casey Anacleto had four and three points, respectively.

Kapa‘a struggled in the opening quarter as Kaua‘i came out and mixed up its defense between zone and straight-up man-to-man. Trailing 9-6, Kapa‘a tied the game when Hanie-Grace knocked down a 3-pointer from a good eight feet behind the arc at the first-quarter buzzer.

That shot sparked the Lady Warriors and helped the team go on a 19-6 run to take a 21-13 lead in the second, which Kaua‘i cut to 24-18 at halftime.

After four quick points from Henry to start the third, the Raiders got within one on an Anacleto triple, her only bucket of the game. After losing the lead briefly, Kapa‘a went to the fourth holding a slim 30-29 edge.

In a key sequence, Hanie-Grace came up with a steal in the backcourt and found McCabe for a bucket, which was followed by another McCabe made jumper to take a 36-31 lead and force a Kaua‘i timeout.

A great pass from Aki to Matayoshi for a lay-up put Kapa‘a up 40-34 and it added one to that on a McCabe free throw.

Ahosivi was then fouled on back-to-back trips and made 3-of-4 from the stripe, then pulled down an offensive board and went back up for a lay-up to cut the score to 41-39.

After Marshall went 1-of-2 at the line, Henry knocked down a clutch pair to bring the deficit to just a point at 42-41, but Kaua‘i would get no closer.

In the night’s junior varsity game, the Kapa‘a squad used a huge second-half effort to pull away in a 49-26 win over Kaua‘i.

Leading 17-13 at halftime, Kapa‘a outscored Kaua‘i 32-13 in the second half.

Kekai Gonsalves and Lele Silva each led the way with 14 points apiece, followed by Guia Soriano’s 10. Vilani McCabe had five, Shyanne Armaza had four and Maile Tuttle rounded out the Kapa‘a scoring with two.

Kaua‘i’s Vinise Pava scored a team-high eight, while Sierra Chung had six. Mariah Dias and Daezsa Tomas each had four, while Jannin Hashizume and Alyssa “Malu” Vegas had two points apiece.

Results from the Waimea-Island School girls varsity game were unavailable at press time.

The schools are back on the court Tuesday, when Kapa‘a looks to continue its unbeaten start at home against Waimea. A Lady Warriors win would clinch the first round for Kapa‘a. JV will begin at 5:30 p.m. with varsity to follow.

Kaua‘i will be on the road to take on the Voyagers at Island School in a varsity-only contest at 7 p.m.