LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i High School guards Kristle Henry and Jennifer Grady fired off 13 and 10 points, respectively, to lead the Red Raiders to a 45-29 win over Waimea Tuesday night at the Kaua‘i High School gym. Earlier in the
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i High School guards Kristle Henry and Jennifer Grady fired off 13 and 10 points, respectively, to lead the Red Raiders to a 45-29 win over Waimea Tuesday night at the Kaua‘i High School gym.
Earlier in the evening, Waimea’s Taylor Gaspar and Nicole Palacio came through in the clutch to give the Menehune JV a 29-22 win over the tenacious Kaua‘i JV squad.
Both teams felt each other, Waimea jumping on the ball on the tipoff, but after empty buckets on both ends of the court, Menehune guard Cheyanne Duarte broke into the scorebooks only after almost two minutes had gone by.
That score was promptly answered by Kaua‘i senior Bristy Agu who netted back-to-back buckets after forcing a turnover and breaking away for a quick 4-2 bulge.
But Shayna Alop forced the tie and Menehune guard, Vakeesha Lagazo, finishing with Waimea high point honors at 12 points, pushed the Menehune up on a plus-one, 6-4, the tail end coming up empty.
Empty shots from the free throw line proved the downfall for the Waimea blueshirts, the Menehune settling for a 21-13 halftime deficit after going 0-for-8 at the free throw line.
From there, Kaua‘i never looked back, outscoring Waimea 12-4 in the third frame and icing the win on a Caitlin Rapozo bucket, her only score in the game, with just four ticks remaining in the game.
Henry, coming alive in the second period, netted seven of her game-high 13 points, including a plus-one in the second frame.
Grady had a signature up-the-middle move and several putbacks for her balanced 10 points followed by guard Casey Anacleto, Agu and center Kawehi Louis-Diamond netting six points apiece. Joining Rapozo with a second-half pair, Giselle Dante found the net in the third period on a putback of a Henry drive from the leftside with about a minute remaining.
Lagazo had the sole three-point bomb in her game total dozen points, despite the Menehune peppering the hoop from outside the three-point arc in the second half.
Guard Shayna Alop added six points, Duarte finished with five points with Caitlyn Owen, key in Waimea’s last win over Island School, and Paige Connelly adding a pair.
Overall, the Menehune finished 4-for-16 at the free throw line compared to Kaua‘i’s 3-for-5
showing in the game.
Palacio finished 3-for-4 at the charity stripe, but her play in the final 2:30 pushed Waimea JV to its win, combining with Gaspar who put the game out of reach with a three-ball and iced the win with a charity point.
Gaspar, finishing with two treys, led the win with nine points followed by Charlene Alicante adding eight first-half points.
Brianne Morikawa finished with a game-high 13 points as Kaua‘i JV netted a season-high, pulling from a 20-9 halftime deficit to deadlock the contest 22-22 before Waimea pulled ahead. Tia Fagarang’s sole score was a three-ball in the third frame with Brandy Racca and Natalia Alvares adding pairs.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
