WAIMEA — Lady Warriors Hailey Overmyer and Hinali‘i Grance combined for 24 points on Wednesday to lead Kapa‘a to a 47-23 win over the Waimea High School Menehune squad at the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea.
Among Overmyer’s scores, the Kapa‘a senior launched a pair of treys, a field goal, and was five-for-six at the free-throw line for 13 high point honors during the season-opening Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls basketball contest.
Coached by William Aki, the Lady Warriors lost little time lighting up the scoreboards with a quartet of missiles from outside the three-point arc compared with the single three-ball marked by the Menehune.
Grance launched three of those beyond the three-point mark, two in the third quarter, and added a final-period field goal for her 11 points.
With Natalie Mata in the coaches’ box, Waimea’s Kiaura Rita-Ortiz topped the Waimea scoring with eight points, including the sole trey marked in the first half when Rita-Ortiz marked seven of her game-total eight points.
Sitting on a six-point lead at the break, the Warrior machine rumbled to its final score in the second half, the scoring machine cranking out 24 points and the defense holding the Menehune to single-digit scoring.
Others contributing to the Warriors’ win, Kiani Pia-Salvadoprt added five points, Olivia Malafu finished with 11 points to match Grance’s effort, Alexie-Ann Yam was five-for-eight at the charity stripe, and Norma Tuuiangavalu dropped a field goal in the third quarter.
Following Rita-Ortiz’s lead for the Menehune, Hailey Mata finished with five points, Tristan Raposasa added four first-half marks, Macie Ramos ended with three points, Shylah Bagoisan-Rita had two points, and Skelynn Ripley closed with a digit.
Scores from the Junior Varsity contest that preceded the varsity game were not available.
Waimea will attempt to find the elusive “W” Monday when the Menehune travel to the Kaua‘i High School gym for a contest against Kaua‘i High School. The JV contest tips off at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity girls taking the floor 20 minutes following the completion of the JV game.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
