KAPAA — Kapaa High School’s varsity boys basketball team defeated Kauai High, 52-50, Wednesday evening at home to start the season’s second round. “Whatever doesn’t kill you, you got to learn from it and it makes you stronger,” said Kapaa
KAPAA — Kapaa High School’s varsity boys basketball team defeated Kauai High, 52-50, Wednesday evening at home to start the season’s second round.
“Whatever doesn’t kill you, you got to learn from it and it makes you stronger,” said Kapaa assistant head coach Bronson Bautista.
Kapaa lost to Kauai High, 54-42, in the first round playoff game Monday at Island School.
“We try to tell the boys, ‘Every game you go through, win or lose, there’s learning experiences that come out of it,’” Bautista said. “We got to get that clicking going. Some days, it’s on. And some days, it’s off. We got to find a way to be consistent. If we can be consistent, then at least we’ll have a better play of basketball. That’s the main thing.”
With the Warriors (4-2 KIF, 1-0 2nd round, 0-1 playoff) ahead, 48-47, with less than a minute left, senior guard Christian Roslin made two free throws to widen the team’s lead.
Roslin ended with seven points, three rebounds and two steals.
“I didn’t think anything. I just focused on the shot,” Roslin said about the free throws. “It was awesome.”
“It felt good, for the win. We worked hard,” he added. “The last game we had, we (weren’t) loose. This game, we did good. We were focused on the game.”
Junior forward Saxsen Shiira made two more free throws to put Kapaa up 52-47. Red Raiders sophomore guard Gunnar Burkman fired a 3-pointer in Kauai High’s last possession before time ran out for the final result.
“We just did it possession-by-possession. We don’t want to get too big in the moment with a lead. And you don’t want to get too big in the moment when you’re losing,” Bautista said. “The only way to finish a basketball game is one possession at a time.”
Before the lead went back and forth in the final period, Kauai (4-2 KIF, 0-1 2nd round, 1-0 playoff) led throughout the first half and for a majority of the third quarter.
“We didn’t do our job. They did theirs. It was a good game, and they played better. And the better team won,” said Kauai High head coach Ipo Yoshioka. “We weren’t aggressive. We didn’t play the way we were supposed to — the way we know how to play. Basically, that’s my fault.”
“It’s nothing that we need to panic (about). We just got to keep working, play our game and not let down,” he added. “It will be games like this the rest of the way. It should be a fun stretch.”
Shiira had 13 points, six rebounds and three steals for the Warriors. Junior guard Daniel Yabes had nine points, an assist and a steal.
Red Raiders senior guard Kaone Miguel was the game’s leading scorer with 17 points. He also had three steals, two assists and a block. Senior forward Kekoa Tecson had 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Kauai High won the junior varsity game, 36-31. Red Raiders Freshman guard Christopher Cromartie led the JV game with 18 points.
Freshman guard Somi Fonua had eight points for the JV Warriors.
Kauai High will play at Waimea (0-4 KIF) on Saturday. The JV game will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity will follow.
Waimea will host Kapaa on Wednesday.
