WAIMEA — A 14-1 run in the third and fourth quarters propelled the Waimea Lady Menehune to a 41-31 win over the previously undefeated Kapa‘a Lady Warriors, Tuesday night at Waimea High School. Though a “home” game for Kapa‘a, the
WAIMEA — A 14-1 run in the third and fourth quarters propelled the Waimea Lady Menehune to a 41-31 win over the previously undefeated Kapa‘a Lady Warriors, Tuesday night at Waimea High School.
Though a “home” game for Kapa‘a, the game was played at Waimea because of slick conditions on the floor at the Bernice Hundley Gym at Kapa‘a High School.
It was a chance for Kapa‘a (4-1) to clinch the first round of the KIF season, but Waimea (3-2) delayed that accomplishment with clutch shooting and strong defense.
Brandee Victorino put up 12 points to lead the Lady Menehune, including seven in the third quarter to help Waimea pull away.
Jayme Jacinto had 10 points, knocking down two 3-pointers and going 4 for 4 from the foul line.
Cheyanne Duarte had nine points and nailed a fourth-quarter triple to give Waimea its biggest lead of the game at 37-24.
Vakeesha Lagazo had four points, while Robin Moura, Cassandra Owen and Paige Connelly had two points apiece.
Jessilyn Aki scored 12 points for Kapa‘a, while Mahea Hanie-Grace added nine. Ka‘anoi Marshall had four points and Raquelle Matayoshi, Moana Leger and Reggie McCabe each had two points.
Lagazo and Hanie-Grace each dished out five assists for their respective teams.
With the score tied at 23-23 in the third, Victorino had back-to-back buckets on passes from Jacinto and Lagazo. Duarte then drove to the hoop and scored, before assisting on a Connelly jumper to jump out to a 31-23 lead at the end of the period.
Lagazo found Jacinto for her second three of the night early in the fourth and Duarte’s 3-pointer off a Moura feed completed the 14-1 run and put the game out of reach.
Waimea was able to stifle the Kapa‘a offense in the second half by going to a 1-2-2 zone defense, which the Lady Warriors had difficulty dissecting.
Hanie-Grace, the team’s leading scorer to this point, also found herself in foul trouble, picking up her fourth early in the third quarter. She remained on the bench until the 7:13 mark of the fourth, but was unable to find her shooting touch, knocking down just a deep three at the buzzer to make it a 10-point defeat.
Kapa‘a scored six points in the third quarter, all by Aki as she tried to keep the Lady Warriors within striking distance.
Kapa‘a held an 8-4 lead in the first quarter, but Jacinto hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to cut it to a one-point deficit after one.
After a Hanie-Grace three gave Kapa‘a a 13-9 edge, Waimea went on an 8-0 run before taking a 20-17 lead to the locker room.
Back-to-back Aki lay-ups in the third knotted the game at 23-23 before Waimea’s 14-1 run. Kapa‘a got no closer than nine the rest of the way.
The night’s other varsity contest was a forfeit victory for the Kaua‘i Red Raiders (3-2) as the Island School Voyagers (0-5) were unable to field enough players.
In the junior varsity game at Waimea, Kapa‘a picked up a 42-38 win over Waimea behind 11 points from Kekai Gonsalves.
Lele Hanie had nine for the Warriors, while Lele Silva added six. Guia Soriano had five points and Maile Tuttle had three.
Nicole Palacio had a game-high 14 for the Lady Menehune, while Jessica Soriano added 10. Carolyne Gacusan scored four, Nicolei Banasihan and Jofferlyn Perpose each had three and Jenaiah Banasihan and Jullynn Ramos had two apiece.
The girls are scheduled to be back in action Tuesday, when Waimea will host Kaua‘i and Island School will host Kapa‘a.
