KAUA‘I — In the first game of the boys KIF season, it was Kaua‘i’s Donovan Harrison picking up the slack after a hot-handed Mikal Moranz fouled out. Thursday night, Moranz returned the favor and the Red Raiders opened up the
KAUA‘I — In the first game of the boys KIF season, it was Kaua‘i’s Donovan Harrison picking up the slack after a hot-handed Mikal Moranz fouled out. Thursday night, Moranz returned the favor and the Red Raiders opened up the second round of KIF play with a victory.
Moranz scored with 14. 4 seconds left to lead the Red Raiders to a 46-44 come-from-behind win over the Waimea Menehune Thursday night at Kaua‘i High School.
Through the first three quarters, the Menehune never trailed and had stretched the lead out to 13 when Niko Delos Reyes drained a two-pointer in the third to give the Menehune a 36-23 lead.
At that point in the game, Harrison had one bucket — a three-pointer to close the first half — but when the fourth quarter began with the Red Raiders down 38-33, he decided it was time to start shooting.
On the Red Raiders’ first possession of the quarter, Harrison nailed a trey to bring the score within three points. Several minutes later, Harrison connected again from behind the arc to pull the Red Raiders within a point at 43-44 with 1:42 left in the game.
Harrison’s ability to create his own shots gave the Waimea defense fits.
“He’s really athletic, long and strong in all phases in the game,” Menehune head coach Nouveau Naumu said. “You always have to keep your eye on him.”
The Menehune thought they caught a break when Harrison fouled out with 1:15 to play, but just as Harrison did in the first game when Moranz had picked up his fifth foul, Moranz was there to finish what Harrison started.
“When one guy is out the other has to step up,” Kaua‘i head coach Ipo Yoshioka said. “Tonight Donovan had Mikal’s back and then Mikal had Donovan’s”
Moranz led all scorers with 19 points, while Harrison chipped in 10, including a perfect three for three from long range.
For the Menehune, a team that has often struggled in the first half, things looked to be going well after the team exploded for 19 first quarter points fueled by 11 points from Kaili Schumacher-Lagundino.
But Shumacher-Lagundino’s hot start wasn’t sustainable and the Waimea offense came back down to earth. Brandon Palacio finished with 15 points for the Menehune to back up Shumacher-Lagundino’s team-high 19, but just as Naumu said the night before following the team’s loss to Kapa‘a, other players on the floor needed to contribute.
“We work on it in practice and we have confidence in our guys to make plays,” Naumu said. “We’ve just got to go and make them.”
Naumu also attributed the loss to the Menehune’s poor performance at the free throw line. The Menehune used a strong inside presence to get to the line 23 times, but Waimea only converted 11 of those attempts.
The Red Raiders, who fell to the Kapa‘a Warriors in the first game of the round one playoffs, opened up the second round with a 1-0 record, while the Menehune fell to 0-1.
The Menehune will take on the Kapa‘a Warriors Saturday night in Waimea.
In JV action, the Menehune bested the Red Raiders, 38-31.
