KALAHEO — Rajah Dat, an all-girl basketball team, finished with a perfect 4-0 record to capture the special mini-tournament paying tribute to the late Sam Arashiro on Saturday night at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center. The event, spanning Friday and Saturday,
KALAHEO — Rajah Dat, an all-girl basketball team, finished with a perfect 4-0 record to capture the special mini-tournament paying tribute to the late Sam Arashiro on Saturday night at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
The event, spanning Friday and Saturday, was organized by Rachael Taira to provide an opportunity for a mini-tournament for Kaua‘i’s basketball women while paying tribute to Sam Arashiro, said Karen Matsumoto of the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association who manned the officials’ table at the tournament.
Participating in the tournament were: the Kaua‘i Ballers made up of Kapa‘a High School alumni and current students; Team 808, a collection of Waimea High School alumni, students and the addition of Casey Anacleto; No Fear, a group of Kaua‘i High School alumni, and Rajah Dat, led by Taira and including Sarah Tangalin (Kapa‘a), Joanna Jacinto (Waimea), Tahnee Shigematsu (Kaua‘i) and others.
Rajah Dat opened its two-game Friday with a 41-21 win over No Fear, sparked by Tangalin’s 12 points and Brianna Ligat-Ramos adding 10 points. Cissy Edwards led the No Fear effort with six points followed by Marycel Garcia and Kira Taylan, with each adding five points.
Against the Kaua‘i Ballers, eventually dropping to Rajah Dat in the championship game, Rajah Dat eked out a 35-34 win in overtime. Tangalin led the charge with eight points, followed by Ramos and Cherisse Rapozo each netting six points.
Ligat-Ramos fueled a late-game surge Saturday when Rajah Dat saw the buzzer sound on a 40-29 win over Team 808. Ligat-Ramos finished with a game-high 21 points in the win to advance Rajah Dat to the title match against the Kaua‘i Ballers, who at that point stood at 2-1. Its only loss was the Friday night overtime heartbreaker, where Leina‘ala McCabe tossed in a game-high 11 points followed by Shai Anne Abigana adding nine points.
Earlier, Leina‘ala’s sister, Reggie, finished with eight points and Leina‘ala added six as the Kaua‘i Ballers opened with a 30-26 win over Team 808. Team 108 was led by Paige Connelly, one of the Waimea High School low posts, finishing with a game-high 10 points.
Paige’s sister, Erin, who sat on the coach’s bench through the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation season, added seven points in the Friday opener.
The Connelly sisters topped the 31-26 win over No Fear for third place in the tournament, Erin finishing with 12 points followed by Paige with 10 points.
Belinda Butac topped the No Fear scoring in the third-place game with 11 points, followed by Taylan and Edwards adding six points apiece.
Abigana topped the Kaua‘i Ballers’ 25-22 edge with eight points to advance the Warrior girls to the final game. Nahea Quereto added seven points and Reggie McCabe chipped in six points in the win over No Fear. No Fear got six points from Butac and five points apiece from Taylan and Edwards.
Tangalin tickled the twine for 10 points to lead Rajah Dat to a 38-23 win over the Kaua‘i Ballers for the tournament title, Rapozo and Elisa Inouye each adding six points.
Reggie McCabe topped the Kaua‘i Ballers’ scoring with six points, followed by Quereto and Lele Hanie each adding five points.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
