LIHUE — Kauai High School’s boys basketball team held off Kapaa in overtime Saturday night to win its first home game of the season 67-64. Melvin Tingzon made two crucial free throws with less than 2 minutes left in the
LIHUE — Kauai High School’s boys basketball team held off Kapaa in overtime Saturday night to win its first home game of the season 67-64.
Melvin Tingzon made two crucial free throws with less than 2 minutes left in the extra period to give the Red Raiders the lead late.
“I didn’t really think about it,” Tingzon said after the game. “I just did what I had to do and shot the ball.”
Tingzon finished the game with 11 points.
Kapaa had one more possession in the final minute for a chance to tie or lead, but an errant pass flew out of bounds.
Kauai then held the ball during the final 26 seconds to seal the victory.
Kauai head coach Ipo Yoshioka said he’s glad his team won but understands it is only the first game and still has the rest of the season ahead.
“We have three more games [against Kapaa] and we have Waimea on Wednesday,” he said. “We can’t sit back and relax. We’re going to come out firing and working hard.”
Kauai had a four-point lead at halftime after a back-and-forth battle during the first two quarters that saw several lead changes.
The Red Raiders then maintained a slim lead throughout most of the second half. The Warriors tied the score a number of times but couldn’t manage to grab the lead.
Kapaa’s Denmark Aladin made a jump shot to tie the score at 59 with less than 1 minute left in regulation to force overtime before the team eventually lost.
He finished the game with 14 points.
“Kauai already has a big advantage playing at home, but we made a lot of mistakes,” said Kapaa head coach John Kaneholani.
“We had a lot of fouls. We had some key guys injured. One of our [players] fouled out. But not to make any excuses because Kauai High School played a heck of a game.”
Kapaa’s James Stevens played well and scored 13 points for his team before fouling out during the fourth quarter.
“I didn’t even know I had four fouls, but it’s all good,” he said. “Just got to watch the fouls [next time].”
Kapaa’s Jassem Cumlat also played well for his team and scored 12 points before he suffered leg cramps during overtime and was helped off of the court.
Cumlat also said he’s happy for the win but knows it’s only one game.
“It’s only the first game, so it doesn’t really matter,” he said.
Kauai hosts Waimea Wednesday and Kapaa hosts Waimea Saturday, Jan. 11.
Both games start 20 minutes after the 5:30 p.m. JV game ends.
