LIHUE — The Kapaa High School girls’ basketball team began its Kauai Interscholastic Federation schedule with a 56-41 victory over Kauai High School Wednesday night.
During the first half, the game was closely contested, but in the second half, the Red Raiders got several transition points and pulled away with the victory at Kauai High School.
“Getting into transition is one of the things that we need to be able to do this season,” Red Raiders’ coach James Dingus said. “We don’t have a lot of height, and we have to rely on our quickness to try to find a way for our girls to get into space.”
That’s precisely what the Red Raiders did in the second half, creating several turnovers and getting several transition buckets in a game that was close at halftime, 24-22.
“We did a good job, and we got a few turnovers, and then we started to get the separation we needed in the second half,” Dingus said.
The Warriors are still solidifying their roster.
“I think we played them pretty tight in the first half and had too many turnovers in the second half,” Warriors’ coach William Aki said. “The amount of turnovers is what cost them to gain momentum in the second half.”
The other difference in the first KIF game of the season was free-throw shooting, which made a difference in the outcome, according to Aki.
“It’s still early in the season and we are still learning how to play together as well,” Aki said. “Hopefully, we will play better next week, and are more tight on defense, and we can get a lot more open shots.”
Kauai and Kapaa will face each other in a rematch at 7 p.m. Dec. 13 at Kapaa High School.
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Jason Blasco, sports reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or jblasco@thegardenisland.com.
