KAPA‘A — The last time the Kapa‘a High School Warriors varsity girl’s basketball team played Waimea, it took an overtime three pointer by Warrior Charlene Hanie — with only 16 seconds left on the clock — to walk away victorious.
KAPA‘A — The last time the Kapa‘a High School Warriors varsity girl’s basketball team played Waimea, it took an overtime three pointer by Warrior Charlene Hanie — with only 16 seconds left on the clock — to walk away victorious. In its rematch Friday night at the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapa‘a, the two teams battled to overtime, and once again, Kapa‘a was able to walk away with a 48-43 win.
The game was iced when Kapa‘a’s Meleane Moala made a trip to the free throw line with the Warriors up 45-42. Moala hit both shots making it a two possession game with less than 30 seconds left to play, which proved to be enough.
With both teams struggling mightily on the offensive end, the teams limped its way to a 38-38 tie at the end of the fourth quarter. Waimea’s Nicole Palacio was able to split two free throws with 19 seconds left that created the tie and forced the game into overtime.
Kapa‘a got a clutch game out of Ariel Cummings, who put up 8 of her 11 points after the first half and proved to be a major asset with the ball in her hands late in the game, being able to get to the charity stripe often throughout the overtime period. Along with Cummings, Hanie once again proved to be a clutch player with a game high 13 points.
Waimea received a very active game from Caitlyn Owen, who led the Menehune with 11 points and had a number of solid plays defensively. Paige Connelly finished with 5 points and fouled out late in the fourth quarter, which proved to hurt the Menehune down the stretch without her inside presence.
Jessica Soriano also added 7 points for Waimea, all of which came in the first half.
Waimea was able to hold Kekai Gonsalves to just 4 points, who usually leads Kapa‘a in scoring, however Diana Garcia-Aguilo had an excellent game from the guard position, often running the offense for the Warriors.
The win brought the Warriors to 2-2 on the season as the team prepares for the Kaua‘i High School Red Raiders (4-0) on Friday in Lihu’e.
The loss drops Waimea to 0-4 on the year as the team readies for the Red Raiders Tuesday in Waimea.
• Rick Killeen, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or sports@thegardenisland.com.
