WAIMEA — Kapa‘a High School girls basketball split its series on Monday when the Lady Warriors made the trek to the westside to face Waimea High School during Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls basketball games at Clem Gomes Gym.
Wailana Tanigawa-Christian set the pace for the Menehune Junior Varsity by dropping 17 points, including a pair from outside the 3-point arc, during the Waimea 52-23 win over Kapa‘a. Chloe Woodward had 11 points, including a pair of long distance balls, for Kapa‘a.
The varsity Lady Warriors turned the table during their encounter against Waimea with a convincing 67-40 win.
Oliva Malafu, one of the Warrior’s triple threats, nailed a game-high 32 points to lead Kapa‘a after marking in each of the four quarters, including setting eight of the Kapa‘a’s 22 points in the opening quarter.
Warrior guard Taira Samiano, who captured KIF girls volleyball all-star honors, ended the first quarter with seven points, including one of two 3-balls launched by Kapa‘a in the opening stanza.
One of the Warriors’ triple threats, Samiano finished the contest with 12 points, including another trey in the second stanza, capitalizing on forced Menehune turnovers.
Denise Alfonso, the third pillar of the Warrior triple threat, finished with eight points balanced through the halves.
Auli‘i Takenaka added a pair of 3-balls and Skylyn Fagarang finished with five points, including a trey in the first frame.
MJ Angala was the Menehune firecracker with eight points, including a pair of long balls. Leah Guerrero finished with seven marks, while Hailey Mata and Kiaura Rita each tucked in six points. Mata’s six came from a trio of field goals with Rita being limited to just free throws.
Waimea next comes to the Kaua‘i High School gymnasium to face the Red Raiders on Wednesday. Both of these teams has each suffered losses at the hands of Kapa‘a. The JV contest tips off starting at 5:30 p.m., followed by the varsity match 25 minutes after the JV game finishes.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
