KAPA‘A — The Kaua‘i High School Red Raiders have put together a special season thus far. Heading into Kapa‘a to take on the Warriors, the team has gone a perfect 7-0 on the season and have showed few signs of
KAPA‘A — The Kaua‘i High School Red Raiders have put together a special season thus far. Heading into Kapa‘a to take on the Warriors, the team has gone a perfect 7-0 on the season and have showed few signs of slowing down. The Warriors, who were hosting senior night, gave Kaua‘i a tough test, but the Red Raiders prevailed 42-31 for its eighth straight victory in its final game of the regular season.
Both teams started slowly offensively in the first half and struggled in its half-court sets. Kapa‘a showed the ability to slow down the Red Raider offense with a solid zone, which kept the score to a low 19-12 in favor of Kaua‘i.
Kapa‘a came out in the second half on fire, having multiple players hit shots from the perimeter. The Warriors were able to scratch and claw its way back to 27-25 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Senior Nahealani Quereto led Kapa‘a with 9 points, all of which came by way of the three ball. Diana Garcia-Aguilo, Kekai Gonsalves and Meleane Moala all contributed with 6 points a piece. Moala proved to be very active in the paint while battling Kaua‘i’s bigs.
Despite falling behind, the fourth quarter belonged to the Red Raiders. Kaua‘i was able to turn up the pace on the fast break, which resulted in some easy buckets down the stretch. Kapa‘a suffered from sloppy turnovers in the quarter, which resulted in the team getting out scored 15-6 in the final frame.
Kaua‘i was led by guard Casey Anacleto, who had 12 points, with 6 of those coming in the fourth. Kawehi Louis-Diamond and Kristle Henry each went for 10 points. Henry appeared to come into the game looking to distribute the ball more than getting her shot off and often set up her teammates for open looks.
Kaua‘i finished the season 8-0, handily taking the KIF title. There were brief signs of adversity throughout the season for the Red Raiders, but each time the team has answered the call on its way to a dominant finish.
Kapa‘a falls to 2-5 on the season and will travel to Waimea on Friday to take on the Menehune (1-6). The two teams have had some memorable battles this season and Friday night’s finale should prove to be no different.
• Rick Killeen, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or sports@thegardenisland.com.
