KALAHEO — Kristle Henry continued to sizzle the twine, netting a game-high 26 points to lead Team 808 to a 56-50 edge over BAM, Thursday night at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center. The win gives Team 808 the title for the
KALAHEO — Kristle Henry continued to sizzle the twine, netting a game-high 26 points to lead Team 808 to a 56-50 edge over BAM, Thursday night at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
The win gives Team 808 the title for the Women 18 and Over division of the Kaua‘i Summer Youth Basketball league and Henry was awarded the league’s Most Valuable Player by officials of the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association.
BAM suffered its first loss of the summer season after two of its key players, Jayme Jacinto and Brandee Victorino, both left for college.
The departure left a shortage of ball handlers, aggravated even more when Natalie Mata fouled out with more than a minute remaining in the game.
When the buzzer sounded on Mata’s fifth foul, BAM had managed to whittle a 10-point deficit, 44-34 at the end of three quarters, to pull to within three points.
Mata finished with a team-high 20 points including two from outside the three-point arc before leaving pilot ball handling to Carie Inouye and Mei-Ling Keopuhiwa.
Earlier, BAM relied on its pair of low posts, Sanoe Kaohelauli‘i and Cherisse Rapozo, to post buckets engineered by Mata on the point, Kaohelauli‘i finishing with 10 points, eight coming in the second half. Rapozo finished with four first-half marks.
Keopuhiwa, a former Kaua‘i High School player, was effective for BAM in the playoffs, but was stymied by the Team 808 defense, limited to just six points.
Carie Inouye marked eight points and sister Elisa Inouye finished with a first quarter pair.
Erin Connelly was the fuse that sparked the Team 808 lead in the second quarter, scoring six of her game-total 13 points to lead Team 808 out of the stalemate zone and take a nine-point bulge at the half.
Janessa Grady rebounded from her injury early in the playoff game and came back to spark Team 808, firing all of her eight points in the first half.
Kia Barba’s strong aggressive ball handling complimented Henry’s strong court presence and yielded four points in the win.
Casey Anacleto, one of the Kaua‘i High School players, fired off one of two treys for Team 808 and Aiko Grande’s defensive efforts could not be measured by her pair.
Noe Perreira finished with 12 points, Robyn Ho‘opi‘i-Manuel added nine and Cissy Dennis finished with eight points to lead the Shakers to a 46-36 win over Tundaz for third place in the summer league.
Liona Hasegawa topped the Tundaz’s effort with a game-high 13 points followed by Marycel Garcia adding 11 points and Belinda Butac finishing with seven points.
