KAPA‘A — Lady Warrior Trinity Guillen scored 17 points, and the Kapa‘a High School girls basketball team beat Waimea High School 61-50 on during a Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation game at Bernice Hundley Gym on Wednesday evening.
The victory improves the Lady Warriors to 8-0 on the season. With four games ahead, the program upgraded junior varsity players to the varsity team in order to ready the squad for the state games scheduled for Feb. 6-9 on O‘ahu.
The move wrecked havoc on the JV matches, where Kapa‘a succumbed to the Menehune, 48-10.
Trailing with just three points scored following three quarters of play, the Kapa‘a JV erupted for seven marks, more than double than its three quarters of play, in the final stanza. The effort was led by Jaicie Matinez, who finished with five points all dropping in the second half.
La‘akea Kauwe led the JV Menehune onslaught with 20 points, including a trio of 3-balls. Wailana Tanigawa-Christian finished with 13 points, and Cyani Bagaoisan-Rita added 11 points.
On the varsity floor, Guillen played the inside post to secure high-point honors that included a four-for-five showing on the charity stripe.
She was followed by guard Skylyn Fagarang, who finished with 12 points in a physically defensive matchup where Kapa‘a hammered out its victory on the inside, being limited to just three long distance bombs.
Taira Samiano, finishing with 10 points in the contest, tucked away two of the three treys. Denise Alfonso, finishing with eight marks, hit the third trey. Olivia Malafu finished with 10 points.
The tight 3-ball matchup overflowed to the Menehune court, where Waimea finished with a pair of treys, including one from its top scorer Hailey Mata, who ended the night with a game-high 19 points.
Trailing 37-22 at the break, Mata and Alyssa Gummerus sparked a second-half comeback, where Waimea outscored Kapa‘a in both the third and fourth quarters.
Gummerus picked up the second Waimea 3-ball in the fourth quarter toward her game total 12 points.
