KAPA‘A — The three-point shot provided the key for the Kapa‘a High School boys basketball program Tuesday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation boys basketball games against Waimea High School at the Bernice Hundley Gym on the campus of Kapa‘a High School.
Firing off six long-range bombs, compared to the three from Waimea, the Kapa‘a junior varsity stayed ahead of the Menehune JV for an eight-point victory, 37-29. On the varsity court, the battle of treys came out in favor of Kapa‘a, which banked nine treys compared to six from Waimea.
Kala Rall entered the score book in the second quarter following a strong defensive showing by both teams that ended with Kapa‘a holding a three-point edge, 11-8, behind buckets from Mikey Questin and Epoki Tafea. Rall, who finished the night with high-point honors for Kapa‘a, ignited the scoring run in the second frame where the Warriors outgunned Waimea, 20-9, for a 14-point bulge at the break.
Rall led the scoring with 27 points, including nailing seven of Kapa‘a’s nine three balls. Keaka Kauhane followed with 14 points, including a pair from outside the arc, Solomone Malafu netted eight second-half points to the delight of the home stand fans that included Kawika Rogers, the football standout who was intending to sign to the Oregon Ducks Wednesday, the National Letter of Intent day.
Kelani Lewis did the honors for Waimea, nailing a trio of treys toward his 11 points, and Tresten Shigematsu finished with 10 of his points dropping in the second half, including a pair of three balls. Kainoa Moody added nine points, and Lindcey Constantino ended with six points, including a trey.
Tristen Sculley led the Warrior JV attack with nine points, all three balls, where the JV Warriors held off a strong comeback effort in the second half, finishing with Kapa‘a outscoring Waimea by just a digit, 21-20 points.
Ty Kamoku spread his seven points through the contest, and Gideon Yasay added six points, all treys.
Jayden Moises topped the JV Menehune scoring with seven points, including a three ball in the fourth quarter, and Vincent Lizzio ended with six points, both first-half three balls. Eli Ewing finished with four final-quarter marks.
Results were received from the JV contest, where Kaua‘i High School visited Island School at the Wilcox Gymnasium, also on Tuesday.
The JV Red Raiders came back from a 19-14 halftime deficit to explode in the fourth quarter toward a 37-29 win over the JV Voyagers.
Kala‘i Esteban and Brian Brown led the Kaua‘i JV attack with 12 points apiece, including each shooter nailing a pair of treys.
The Voyager JV’s effort was topped by Kapono Sullivan, balancing his 10 points through four quarters. Garret Hadley fired off a three ball along with Michael Fitzgerald getting a trey in his seven-point contribution.
In Saturday’s boys basketball action, Waimea High took both ends of their series when the Menehune visited the Wilcox Gymnasium on the campus of Island School in Puhi.
Menehune Tresten Shigematsu and Kelani Moody topped the Waimea attack with 10 points apiece in the varsity contest, where Waimea scored double digits in three of the four frames against Island School in the 39-27 victory.
Joshua Dobashi and Lukas Meyers topped the Voyager effort, Dobashi finishing with 13 points, including an opening-frame trey, and Meyers finishing with 10 points.
During the JV contest, the Menehune came back with a blistering 22 points in the final quarter to erase a 19-9 halftime deficit. While holding the Voyagers to just 14 second-half points, the Menehune JV claimed a 36-33 edge behind the high-point scoring from Max Richard Ruiz, who poured in all of his 13 points in the second half. Jeyden Moises added 10 points for Waimea, eight in the second half.
The Voyager JV effort came behind a 13-point contribution from Kapono Sullivan and nine points from Garret Hadley.
Island School next travels to the Bernice Hundley Gym Saturday to meet up with the Warriors, and Kaua‘i High School will be making the trip out to the Clem Gomes Gym to tip off against Waimea High School. The JV games tip off at 5:30 p.m. at both sites with the varsity contest to follow 20 minutes following the completion of the JV games.
