WAIMEA — Waimea High School defeated Kauai in overtime Tuesday night, sealing a game they controlled most of the way before a late Red Raider surge forced the extra frame. Waimea’s Nicole Palacio scored the team’s only five points in
WAIMEA — Waimea High School defeated Kauai in overtime Tuesday night, sealing a game they controlled most of the way before a late Red Raider surge forced the extra frame.
Waimea’s Nicole Palacio scored the team’s only five points in the four-minute overtime period as she hit a three-pointer and converted on two crucial free throws to clinch the 35-33 victory for the Menehune.
She ended the night as Waimea’s leading scorer with 16 points, including four three-pointers.
“It’s a really good feeling, but it’s more of a humble feeling,” Palacio said. “It’s not about bragging rights. It’s just, you needed it so you made it.”
Waimea was in control from opening tip, surrendering the lead for the first time with 1 minute 14 seconds left in the game.
Although Kauai High School scored only four points in the first quarter, Waimea head coach Brandon Moises said he wasn’t surprised about his opponent’s comeback.
“We’re playing the defending two-time league champions,” he said of Kauai’s varsity girls basketball squad. “Regardless of who [didn’t] return from last year, we knew that [they] would bring their best game.”
A crucial traveling call late in overtime halted the Red Raiders’ hopes of stealing one from Waimea.
“Again, we’re young and it comes with the territory,” said Kauai head coach Neil Fagarang. “You get careless or you tend to rush things.
“Again, it’s a learning [experience] for us. Hopefully these girls can grow and get better as the season goes on.”
Kauai’s Riana Ralston powered the team’s offense inside as she made tough layups and drew fouls in the key.
She, too, was the leading scorer for her team with 16 points.
“In my head I was like, ‘I can’t let my team down. I need to get the rebound. I need to make points,’” she said. “Having this experience tonight, next time we get there again we’ll know what to do.”
It was a back-and-forth battle between Palacio and Ralst as the two traded scores.
Palacio hit two three-pointers in the opening quarter to extend her team’s lead, but Ralston came back in the second quarter and shook off defenders and drove to the lane for layups to bring her team to within three.
Palacio then hit another three-pointer during the third quarter to help her team extend its lead to six.
But it was Ralston who attacked inside to give her team its first lead of the game, a two-point margin, with just over a minute left in the game.
But Waimea’s Alyssa Pigao responded, hitting a layup with about 30 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 30. A Red Raider missed a shot shortly before the buzzer sent the game to overtime, where Waimea outlasted the defending league champ.
“I hugged Riana at the end of the game and I said, ‘You played one hell of a game,’” Moises said.
Moises said tough, close games like this will benefit both teams as the season continues.
“I think sometimes when the games are won or lost easily, you tend to take things more lightly,” he said. “Games like this make you better prepared for the next game.
“Playing under pressure and handling pressure, you walk away knowing that you’re able to execute under those intense situations,” he said.
Kauai’s inability to convert on fastbreaks hurt the team Tuesday.
“We just need to be patient, let it happen, and make better choices,” Fagarang said. “Right now, we’re not reading [the play] or making good choices. Hopefully, as the season goes on, we’ll get better.”
Waimea’s next game will be Friday night at home against Kapaa High School. The J.V. game starts at 5:30 with varsity to follow.
“We expect to come out more aggressive. We expect to come out with better ball-handling skills and better shooting,” Palacio said. “We’ve been working on it all week. So we expect a better game than last.”
Kauai’s next game will be Friday, Dec. 27 at Kapaa.
