KILAUEA — Hunter Bethel and Jordon Cummings dropped a pair and Thomas Yam nailed a pair of charity shots in the final frame to pull the Kaua‘i Ballers ahead of Westside Basketball, 33-24, during a trio of tightly-contested games, Monday
KILAUEA — Hunter Bethel and Jordon Cummings dropped a pair and Thomas Yam nailed a pair of charity shots in the final frame to pull the Kaua‘i Ballers ahead of Westside Basketball, 33-24, during a trio of tightly-contested games, Monday night at the Kilauea Neighborhood Center.
Threatened by a brown out earlier in the afternoon, the games in the county’s Dept. of Parks and Recreation Winter 11 and Under Basketball League played before a full supportive audience.
Team Lihu‘e, fielding two teams, one against Hanakila and one against Team Central, got the full support against an equally supportive home town crowd during the Hanakila match.
Team Lihu‘e 1 faced a 17-4 halftime deficit, but outscored their opponent 20-16 in the second half as Karl Dante dropped five of his game-total seven points in the final frame.
The effort fell short as Hanakila wrapped up a 33-24 edge behind the shooting and ball handling skills of Lexton Camat who posted a game-high 11 points, including a three-ball that started the Hanakila scoring late in the first period.
“He’s got game,” said one of the officials, noting the ball handling and shooting skills of the point guard.
As Team Lihu‘e 1 closed the halftime gap, Rafeal Raza dropped the second three-ball of the night to help preserve the Hanakila edge.
Following Camat’s lead, Makana Moreno and Daniel Yabes posted four points each in the win.
Dante led the Team Lihu‘e 1 scoring with his seven points, followed by Brandon Agas getting his game-total five points in the fourth period and Michael Dasalia finishing with four points, all dropping in the final stanza.
Team Lihu‘e 2 faced an uphill battle against a quick Team Central squad, and Tajh Mapuhi posted a game-high 12 points in an effort that fell short, 22-21 in the finale.
Bryce Johnson-Cormack led Team Central with 11 points with Kaimi Texeira lending four points and Kurtis Fujito-Pascua adding three points.
Following Mapuhi, Kyler Sadora added five points and Blaise Banquel finished with four points.
The 11 and Under squads take the floor Thursday at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center with three games on tap starting at 6 p.m.
Team Central opens against the Kamikaze, one of two girls teams in the league, starting at 6 p.m. That will be followed by the Kaua‘i Ballers going up against Team Lihu‘e at 7 p.m. Westside Basketball matches up against the West Kaua‘i Hornets in the 8 p.m. finale.
Six games are on tap Saturday starting at 9 a.m. at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
