KAPAA — Briggs Agu scored 27 points but it wasn’t enough as the Menehune fell to Kapaa, 57-46 before a spirited crowd at Bernice Hundley Gym at Kapaa High School on Wednesday. “It makes a difference when Briggs comes to
KAPAA — Briggs Agu scored 27 points but it wasn’t enough as the Menehune fell to Kapaa, 57-46 before a spirited crowd at Bernice Hundley Gym at Kapaa High School on Wednesday.
“It makes a difference when Briggs comes to play,” said Chris Acoba, Waimea High School coach. “Briggs has been playing for years and has a good sense of the game. Both he and DJ Pabre played the entire game, and they were brain tired.”
John Kaneholani, the Kapaa head coach, kept the Warriors on the ground with timeouts in the waning moments.
“Waimea played tough,” said Kaneholani. “It is good to see Waimea play well. This is not the team we saw last week. This is the team we watched during the goodwill tournament who gave all of the teams a tough time. Tonight was Waimea’s night. I even told the players after the game.”
Kapaa improved to 2-0 in the fledging Kauai Interscholastic Federation boys basketball season. Waimea dropped to 0-2.
Waimea, trailing throughout the night, stayed close. The Menehune rallied from 43-31 deficit entering the fourth quarter, and with deliberation and persistence, trimmed the lead to 48-44 when Kapaa was called for a technical foul, sending Agu to the charity line and turning possession to the Menehune with 2:08 left.
Agu had nine fourth quarter points.
“The end pressure got the better of us,” Acoba said. “It was the ending two minutes, 48 seconds. Kapaa got us into the running game — we are not runners. Coach John did us a favor, calling two timeouts, and we kept telling the guys to take their time, slow the game. This was a learning game for us coaches as well. We learned about our team.”
Following Agu, Waimea got scores from five other Menehune, Pabre adding seven points, and Kelly Ragasa posting six points from the paint. Kasen Castro and Zech Ponting each ended with three points, both from shots outside the three-point arc, and Keoni Gaoiran rounding out the Waimea scoring with a pair.
For the Warriors, Saxson Shiira finished with 10 points followed by Tristen Hawelu-Inanod at nine points, Rafael Roslin and Christopher Yam adding seven points each, and Mosese Fifita ending with six points.
“We played decent,” Kaneholani said. “We kept telling the players they had targets on their backs, and we had to play to look better. Credit goes to Waimea who pulled us out of our game. With a game coming up against Kauai Saturday night, we need to concentrate on our fundamentals. We just need to play better.”
Earlier, Kapaa junior varsity pulled off a 42-15 win over the Menehune JV. Noah Rall and Julian Limuel led the victory with 11 points each. Taylon Yadao and Naikoa Simao led the JV Menehune with a three-ball each.
Kapaa hosts Kauai High School Saturday with the JV game tipping off at 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity matchup.
