HONOLULU — The Kaua‘i Red Raider girls basketball team all ready proved they were queens of the KIF. Now they have a shot to extend their rule to the whole state. The Raider Wahine eked out a 34-33 win over
HONOLULU — The Kaua‘i Red Raider girls basketball team all ready proved they were queens of the KIF. Now they have a shot to extend their rule to the whole state.
The Raider Wahine eked out a 34-33 win over Hawai‘i Prep Thursday night to secure a spot in the Hawaiian Airlines Girls Basketball State Championships Division II title game.
The Red Raiders were led once again by senior guard Kristle Henry with 17 points. Fellow senior Kawehi Louis-Diamond added 9 points for the Red Raiders.
The Raiders had their hands full facing a Hawai‘i Prep team that was fresh off defeating top-seeded Radford on Wednesday.
The Red Raiders outscored their Big Island opponent in each of the first three quarters and entered the final quarter with a 28-24 lead. Hawai‘i Prep made a late push, outscoring the Red Raiders 9-6 in the fourth, but Kaua‘i held on at the buzzer.
“Hawai‘i Prep had three shots in the last couple of seconds,” Kaua‘i Athletic Director Ross Shimabukuro said by phone.
Shimabukuro said Henry was absent in the final minutes of the game due to an injury, but said she seemed to be OK afterward.
“She played a heck of a game tonight. So did Kawehi,” he said.
The No. 4 Red Raiders will face the winner of the No. 2 KS-Hawai‘i versus No. 3 Maryknoll game, which finished after The Garden Island went to press.
The championship game will be played at 5 p.m. and can be seen on television on OC16 and will be broadcast on the radio on JAMZ 98.1 FM.
For up-to-the minute coverage of the game, follow The Garden Island Sports on twitter at twitter.com/TGISports.
