WAIMEA — Kapaa’s Justin Faidley, Michael Encinas and Alaka‘i Gonsalves found the scorebook in every quarter Saturday during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation varsity boys basketball game against Waimea at Clem Gomes Gym.
The Warrior trio led the varsity squad to its 67-48 victory over the Menehune that came following a slow start off the blocks where Waimea built a 5-0 lead on a Lacin Montemayor bucket and a trey from Wade Pimsaguan before the Warriors kicked in.
“Kapaa shot the lights out against us,” said Waimea coach Dino Pabre. “Everything was dropping for them. We had too many turnovers. We didn’t defend well. We had a plan coming out of the locker room. We just couldn’t execute.”
The Warriors went long-distance in its win, firing off eight bombs from outside the three-point arc compared to the five generated by the Menehune. Faidley topped the Warrior performance with four of the treys and combined the offensive showing with numerous rebounds throughout. He finished the game with 18 points, tying Encinas’ production that included a pair of long balls.
“We worked hard at practice,” said Kapaa coach Kamahalo Kauhane. “We have just two more games remaining, and we want to have a strong finish.”
Gonsalves finished the night on 13 points, including 10 that dropped in the second half of the game where every Warrior posted on the roster found the net.
“Justin was everywhere tonight,” said Kauhane. “We played some really good team ball. The boys got into the flow.”
Pimsaguan, finding two of the Menehune’s five three-balls, topped the Waimea scoring on a game-high 19 points followed by Montemayor’s 15-point contribution.
“Every time we come out of the locker room is a learning experience,” Pabre said. “What is success? Personal gain — from the opening tipoff to the final buzzer. If you can show a positive gain, that’s success.”
Earlier in the night, Kapaa junior varsity’s Kala Rall posted an evening-high 25 points to lead the JV Warriors to a 63-37 win over the JV Menehune who generated a crowd-rousing response in the fourth quarter when Derick Soriano marked his first point. Akela Nu‘uhiwa-Gonda added 13 points in the victory.
Ty Tsukayama topped the Waimea scoring on 15 points and Aden Ringor added 13 points.
Waimea next hosts Kauai High School on Tuesday night when the JV game tips off at 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity match at the Clem Gomes Gym.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
