KAPA‘A — For the first time in the KIF boys basketball season, a team has emerged from the pack with a convincing win. For the Kapa‘a Warriors, that win also gave them the league’s first-round title. After falling to the
KAPA‘A — For the first time in the KIF boys basketball season, a team has emerged from the pack with a convincing win.
For the Kapa‘a Warriors, that win also gave them the league’s first-round title.
After falling to the Menehune in their previous two outings, a consistent scoring output led the Warriors to a 57-47 win over Waimea Wednesday night at Kapa‘a High School.
The Warriors were led by James Stevens with 10 points, but Kapa‘a had seven players with at least five points.
“That’s really big for us,” head coach Philip Baclayon said. “Our group that came off the bench really stepped up for us tonight.”
The Warriors led by 10 at the half and stretched that lead to 11 entering the fourth quarter. The final eight minutes saw the two teams play cat and mouse. At one point the Warriors led by 15, but for the majority of the final minutes, the Menehune closed in and kept it a two-possession game.
With just under 30 seconds to play and the Warriors leading 53-47, Kapa‘a’s Lance Miyashiro found himself at the free-throw line for a one-and-one scenario. Miyashiro drained his first bucket, but his second clanged off the rim. The wide-eyed Menehune defenders swarmed for the ball, but Miyashiro boxed them out, grabbed the rebound and fed it to Kainoa Colipano, whose easy layup gave the Warriors an insurmountable nine-point lead.
“That was really big for us,” Baclayon said, “especially in the closing minutes.”
The Warriors initial lead came via sharp passes to the inside in the first half and solid shooting. Meanwhile, the only balls the Menehune could drain were from behind the arc. In the first half, Waimea shot one of 15 from the two-point range. From beyond the line the Menehune lit it up with 4-of-8 shooting. Waimea’s three-point attack managed to keep them close at 25-15 at the half, but ultimately head coach Nouveau Naumu would have liked to use the three-balls as a dagger instead of a crutch.
“Fortunately, the threes kept us in the game tonight,” Naumu said. “However, we’ll take points anywhere we can get them. We’d like to go inside more and draw fouls.”
The Menehune were proficient in their attempts at the free-throw line, with 8-of-12 shooting.
As they have all season, Waimea’s Brandon Palacio and Kaili Schumacher-Lagundino paced the team with 16 points apiece. The duo’s performance was no surprise to Nauma; he would just like to see those points spread out.
“They’re two of our captains and we expect good things out of them,” Nauma said. “We just need for the team to contribute a little more, as well.”
With the Warrior win, the KIF for the first time this season has a front-runner. Heading into Monday’s first playoff game, all three teams sat with a 2-2 record. The Warriors had beaten the Red Raiders twice, the Menehune toppled the Warriors two times and the Red Raiders beat Waimea twice.
For the Warriors, Aki said the first round has been a matter of improvement. Wednesday’s win wasn’t so much the team figuring out the Menehune as it was the Warriors finally hitting their stride.
“We found out about ourselves more than we found out about the Menehune,” Baclayon said. “We’ve made big improvements. I’d give our first-round effort a C. We still have a ways to go, but its definitely progress.”
