KAPAA — The Warriors started the second round of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation season with a home win. Kapaa High School’s varsity boys basketball team defeated Waimea, 59-45, on Wednesday night. “We started that full-court press against Kauai High, and we’re
KAPAA — The Warriors started the second round of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation season with a home win.
Kapaa High School’s varsity boys basketball team defeated Waimea, 59-45, on Wednesday night.
“We started that full-court press against Kauai High, and we’re going to keep on running it the rest of the season. Hopefully, it does help us,” said Kapaa head coach John Kaneholani. “Offensively, we’re going to work on some new things. We have some things in place, but we’re going to add a few flowers in there and make it smell good.
“I think we’ll be pretty good. We have a long week before we play Kauai High. I think that’s going to help us get ready for them,” he added. “Just be a little bit more disciplined. I think once we get that part down, we’ll be a lot better.”
After a close, low-scoring first quarter ended with Kapaa (3-2 KIF, 1-0 second round) leading 8-5, the Warriors widened the gap to double digits and held the lead to the end.
“We had to change our mentality. We have to make every game like it’s our last,” said Warriors senior forward Matt Cummings. “Since it’s my senior year, too, I want to go out with a bang.”
Waimea (0-5 KIF, 0-1 second round) outscored Kapaa 21-15 in the final quarter.
“Right off the bat, much better effort in this game. We brought our intensity and pressure with seven guys total for the team,” said Waimea assistant coach Hans Reeves. “It was our most competitive game of the season, so far.
“We can always play better, play harder,” he added. “About midway into the second quarter, they started bringing the press. A couple of quick turnovers was all it took, then they were up 10 points. We got to be aware of that.”
Cummings was Kapaa’s leading scorer with 14 points. Sophomore guard Bernie Calvan and junior forward Mosese Fifita each scored seven points.
“Everyone scored. The bench, they stepped up. We made some crazy shots that went in,” Cummings said.
Senior guard Jamin Fernandez and sophomore center Kelly Ragasa each scored 11 points for Waimea. Senior forward Theron Shigematsu had 10 points, all in the second half.
“Definitely, we need to work on turnovers. Overall we did OK. I think our best quarter was probably the fourth quarter,” Shigematsu said. “We weren’t able to break their press. But coming out of the half, I think we made a good adjustment.”
Kapaa also won the junior varsity match, 46-30.
Waimea will host Kauai (4-0 KIF) on Saturday. The JV game will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity will follow. Kapaa will play at Kauai on Tuesday.
