KAPA‘A — Waimea High School girls basketball junior varsity took its match 50-13 over the Kapa‘a, but dropped the varsity contest 60-38 in Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation games played at Bernice Hundley Gym.
The Menehune JV jumped out to a 15-0 opening frame after holding the Warriors scoreless in the quarter, led by Wailana Tanigawa-Christian with six points and Cyani Bagaoisan-Rita with four points.
That set the pace for the rest of the contest where the Menehune limited Kapa‘a to just single-digit scoring through three frames.
Bagaoisan-Rita finished with high point honors in the JV Menehune win by netting 16 points, including a pair of treys in the second quarter. La‘akea Kauwe came alive in the second half by scoring 10 of her total 14 points.
Kehaukeha Lawhead led the JV Warrior scoring on four points with Tiare Nunez dropping the sole 3-ball for the Kapa‘a team.
On the varsity floor, where Waimea kept looking for answers to counter Kapa‘a’s big Olivia Malafu, the Warrior center was on the floor for just a little more than two quarters. That was sufficient time for the tall girl to wreck 12 points of damage to the Menehune machine.
During her absence on the court, Kapa‘a turned to guard Skylyn Fagarang, who finished with 14 points, nine, including a 3-ball, dropping in the second half. During the first half, Fagarang was perfect five-for-five at the charity stripe.
Warrior guard Taira Samiano was limited to just a sole trey in her seven-point showing. In her stead, Denise Alfonso found the trey secret, sinking three toward her 16-point total.
The Menehune took advantage of the entire team, freely substituting to have fresh legs on the court, and trying to counter the height advantage of the Warriors that resulted in costly turnovers Kapa‘a capitalized on to build its lead.
Hailey Mata, in addition to being the Menehune floor leader, finished with 15 points, including a sorely-needed trey in the opening frame. Ari Acosta’s height on the Menehune bench added six points.
Alyssa Gummerus came alive in the final quarter for two buckets, a trey and a field goal. MJ Angala’s no-fear stance coughed up three points on a sole first quarter trey, and the rebound bull Kiaura Rita finished with a three-for-five showing on the charity stripe.
Kapa‘a gets a bye on Wednesday when Waimea High School hosts Kaua‘i High School at Clem Gomes Gym, where the JV game tips off starting at 5:30 p.m.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
