KAPAA – The Kauai High School’s boys basketball team remained undefeated after beating Kapaa 47-45 in a nail-biter Saturday night. “Two teams just going at it, playing their hearts out, just giving it everything they’ve got. That’s the bottom line,”
KAPAA – The Kauai High School’s boys basketball team remained undefeated after beating Kapaa 47-45 in a nail-biter Saturday night.
“Two teams just going at it, playing their hearts out, just giving it everything they’ve got. That’s the bottom line,” said Red Raiders head coach Ipo Yoshioka. “Unfortunately, someone’s got to win or lose. Luckily, it was us tonight.”
Kauai (5-0 overall, 1-0 in second round) maintained its slim lead throughout most of the game.
Kapaa rallied and took a 40-39 lead with four minutes left in the fourth quarter when senior guard Wheeler Batol made a layup on a fast break.
Soon after, however, Kauai junior guard Jassem Cumlat took the lead back for his team with his own layup.
The Warriors committed fouls down the stretch and Red Raiders junior forward Duke Yadao capitalized on free throw opportunities to seal the victory for Kauai.
“I got hammered, but I just tried to stay calm,” Yadao said. “We had a lot of fans out here and we felt their vibe. We started playing for them, the coaches and everybody else.”
Yadao finished with seven points, five of which were scored in the final period.
Cumlat ended the game with 16 points.
Kapaa (2-4 overall, 1-1 in second round) had numerous chances but struggled at the free throw line.
The team made 12 of 34 free throw attempts in the game and converted three of 11 attempts during the fourth quarter.
“We missed a lot of free throws and it started right from the beginning,” said Warriors head coach John Kaneholani. “Kauai High School gave us a lot of chances, a lot of chances to win the game. We just couldn’t put it together. It’s a killer when you miss a lot of free throws.”
Kapaa sophomore center Mosese Fafita also said the game could have ended differently if the team made a majority of its shots at the charity stripe.
“We needed to make our free throws and run harder,” he said. “A lot of the basic fundamentals we need to work on. Take care of the ball, mostly.”
Fafita finished the game with 10 points.
Kapaa was also without starting senior forward Denmark Aladin for the second half.
He said he injured his ACL sometime shortly after the end of the second period.
“If I do therapy and all that stuff, I can probably get back by next week. Maybe this week,” he said.
Aladin’s only points came from a jump shot during the second quarter.
Kaneholani said he understands his players, especially the seniors, are frustrated at this point of the season.
“We have high points and low points in life. Right now we’re at the lowest point of their high school careers, for the seniors anyway,” he said.
“I tell them all of the time, ‘When the river flows, it goes down. So try to fight the current and go back up.’”
Though Kauai has yet to lose this season, Yoshioka said the team cannot afford to dwell on its successes but instead will have to immediately shift its focus to the next task.
“It’s just one game. Tuesday, (we have) another game. That’s where we’ll focus. We’ll turn the focus over to that now,” he said. “We got to stay focused on the present.”
On Tuesday, Kauai hosts Waimea. Kapaa hosts Waimea on Friday. Both games start after the 5:30 p.m. JV games end.
• Junior varsity:
Kapaa’s junior varsity squad defeated Kauai 65-56.
Saxsen Shiira scored 12 points for Kapaa and Lanakila Wilson scored 19 for Kauai.
• Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
