I’d like to extend a congrats to the latest round of teams and competitors of Kauai for their accomplishments at their respective state tournaments last week:
w Kauai High’s varsity boys basketball team placed fourth at the 2018 Snapple Boys Basketball Championships – Division II state tournament.
w Kapaa High’s varsity boys soccer team was runner-up in the 2018 The Queen’s Medical Center Boys Soccer Championships – Division II state tournament.
w 24 grapplers from the Kauai Interscholastic Federation competed at the 2018 Texaco Wrestling Championships. Kapaa’s Braeden Jensen reached the podium and placed sixth in the 152-pound boys bracket.
One in particular, though, I couldn’t help but feel something for those boys who fell just short.
Because Kapaa’s boys soccer team reached the title match, I was able to watch them on TV.
Down a goal late in the second half against Kamehameha Schools-Hawaii, Kapaa’s Ryno Banasihan scored an equalizer at the 80th minute.
“OK. They’re back in it. They got a chance,” I thought to myself as I watched from the TGI newsroom. After giving up two own goals, it was amazing to see that they leveled right before the end of regulation.
But just as I was taking down notes of Banasihan’s goal, I heard a whistle blow. I looked up, and the referee was pointing to the spot, signaling a penalty kick for KS-Hawaii.
“Oh, no,” I said out loud in disbelief.
You hope for the best, but the reality is that Kapaa could very well lose on this PK.
Sure enough, KS-Hawaii’s Jonathan DeMotta buried it to put his team ahead, 3-2. That would the game-winner.
When the final whistle blew soon after, I thought to myself, “Wow. That is a tough way to lose a game.”
To my left was TGI paginator and in-house soccer specialist, Paul Curtis. Some of you might know him as a KIF soccer referee.
I turned to him and asked for his opinion of that call to award KS-Hawaii the PK. He said to me, “In that moment, I wouldn’t have made that call.”
Now, this is not to criticize whoever that referee was. I’m sure he made what he believed to be the right call. All I’m saying here is that I feel for Kapaa’s team.
It was tough watching on TV. I’m sure experiencing it was even harder.
Chin up, boys.
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Nick Celario can be reached at ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
