Waimea stays in the mix

WAIMEA — The game’s storyline looked similar to the previous time Waimea and Kapa‘a met, but this time the Lady Menehune re-wrote the ending as they knocked off the Lady Warriors 52-46, Tuesday night at the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea.

On Jan. 7, Waimea held a 20-point lead in the first half against Kapa‘a, but saw its opponent come all the way back for an important victory.

Tuesday night, Waimea took its biggest lead in the third quarter when Brandee Victorino grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and put back the lay-up for a 35-21 lead.

From there, Kapa‘a put together a 22-7 run that gave the Warriors their first lead of the night on a short jumper by Mahea Hanie-Grace off a Reggie McCabe pass in the paint, putting her team up 43-42. Hanie-Grace then nailed a 3-pointer off a Jessilyn Aki feed for a four-point lead.

This time, however, the Menehune responded with aggressive play and did not allow Kapa‘a another point as they finished the game on a 10-0 run for a win that keeps them alive for a second-round championship.

Waimea, which had eight seniors playing their final regular season home games, saw nine players score on the night, led by Jayme Jacinto’s 11 points, which all came in the first half.

Victorino scored nine, while Vakeesha Lagazo had eight. Robin Moura followed with seven, Searra Kaohi had six and Cassandra Owen scored five. Paige Connelly had three points, Cheyanne Duarte had two and Jazzelyn Bradbury had one.

Hanie-Grace and Aki each topped the scoring with 16 points apiece, while Kekai Gonsalves added eight. McCabe had four points and Ka‘anoi Marshall had two to round out the scoring.

The Kaua‘i Red Raiders lead the standings at 4-1, while Kapa‘a and Waimea each now sit at 3-2 with Island School at 0-5.

Waimea and Kaua‘i play one another Friday night at the Raider Dome in the regular season finale. If Waimea wins, it will move into a tie for first with Kaua‘i.

If Kapa‘a is able to beat Island School in their finale, Friday at the Island School Gym, the Lady Warriors will make it a three-way tie with all teams at 4-2 for the round.

The Red Raiders can make it a moot point if they are able to beat Waimea. They will win the round with a 5-1 record and would take on Kapa‘a. the first-round champions, for the conference title in a playoff.

Victorino put Waimea up for good at 47-46 as she finished a driving lay-up in the paint. She was then fouled on the team’s next possession and sank both free throws to move ahead by three.

Kapa‘a turned the ball over on the inbounds pass and Lagazo, Moura and Kaohi each made 1-of-2 from the foul line in the final 1:23 while Kapa‘a was unable to cut into the deficit.

Waimea led 10-9 early in the second quarter, but went on an 11-1 run to open up an 11-point lead. Jacinto knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in that run, the second giving her team a 21-10 lead.

Waimea then scored the quarter’s final five points and went to the locker room with a 26-14 lead.

After facing its biggest deficit at 35-21, Kapa‘a cut the lead to just four points at the end of the third quarter when Aki nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. With time running out, the Waimea defense failed to get out on the shooter and Aki made it pay with the huge bucket, which made the score 39-35 going into the final eight minutes.

Kapa‘a wasted little time and Aki tied the game with a pair of free throws, followed by a fast-break lay-up. Moura put Waimea back up 41-39 with a driving lay-up, but Gonsalves evened things up again with a runner of her own.

After Lagazo made 1-of-2 at the stripe, Hanie-Grace’s jumper gave the Warriors their first lead, but the final sequence was all Waimea.

In the evening’s junior varsity game, Waimea was a 39-20 winner over Kapa‘a behind a game-high 12 points from Jessica Soriano. Jenaiah Banasihan followed with eight points and Nicolei Banasihan added six.

Kapa‘a was led by Guia Soriano’s seven points, while Lele Hanie scored four.

Details from the Kaua‘i-Island School varsity game were unavailable at press time.