KAPA‘A — Waimea’s Kailikea Shumacher-Lagundino nailed a charity pair with 1.1 seconds remaining to give the Menehune a 39-37 edge over Nanakuli, Friday night. That game was one of four high school games played at the Kapa‘a High School pre-season
KAPA‘A — Waimea’s Kailikea Shumacher-Lagundino nailed a charity pair with 1.1 seconds remaining to give the Menehune a 39-37 edge over Nanakuli, Friday night.
That game was one of four high school games played at the Kapa‘a High School pre-season basketball tournament at the Bernice Hundley Gym during the second day of the three-day tournament.
Earlier, the Kapa‘a Green junior varsity team was victorious by 26 points over the Waimea JV team, coach Francis Kaohi noting the Menehune have only three players that have any experience on the courts.
Kaua‘i High School’s JV squad held off a strong finish by the Kapa‘a White to take a 55-45 finish into the locker rooms, the final margin belying the closeness of the game in the final minutes of play.
Maryknoll High School, making its debut in the tournament, came back from a three-point first quarter deficit to finish with a 49-47 edge over the Kaua‘i Red Raiders.
Kapa‘a, the tournament host, did not take the floor, Friday. Instead, the Warrior team was spread out helping with gym duties before settling in and watching the Nanakuli/Waimea matchup.
Bryan Andres, leading the Kaua‘i scoring with 16 points, including a pair from outside the three-point arc, was joined by Ricky Tommy to lead Kaua‘i to a 12-9 bulge at the end of the first quarter.
But Maryknoll answered with a 19-10 second quarter behind eight points from Austin Gaskins and six points from Isaiah Dowdell to take a six-point lead, 28-22, at the half.
With 3:50 showing in the game, Andres nailed a bucket to tie the score at 42-42, only to see Gaskins pull Maryknoll ahead on a bucket.
Kaua‘i’s Joe Duronslet fouled out with 1:47 showing in the game after netting four points.
The see-saw prevailed until the final 10 ticks when Andres nailed his second trey, but time ran out on the comeback effort.
Following Andres, Donavan Harrison finished with 13 points, his scores being cheered by a small Raider fan base in the house.
Gaskins topped the Maryknoll scoring with 15 points, followed by Dowdell adding 10 points.
Waimea, getting back-to-back three-balls from Brandon Palacio, who led the Menehune scoring with 13 points, held the lead over Nanakuli for three quarters before the Hawks staged a final-period rally.
The Hawks turned to a full court press to hold the Menehune at bay, and working behind buckets from Nate Auelua-Naki and Joe Shelton, went toe-to-toe with the Menehune, a Shelton three-ball tying the contest 37-37 with 4.8 seconds showing in the game.
But the Menehune’s inbound timed out, giving Nanakuli the advantage. On the inbound play, Shumacher-Lagundino was fouled, sending him to the charity stripe for a one-and-one, the foul nullifying a putback by the Hawks’ Bishop Kahalelehua.
After earlier missing two free throws, Shumacher-Lagundino put up the first, a rattler that pulled itself into the net. A deep breath and the second shot swished through for the victory as Nanakuli’s inbound went high at the buzzer. Shumacher-Lagundino finished with nine points, including a five-for-eight showing on the foul line.
“Wait until next week,” said Philip Baclayon, the Kapa‘a coach. “It should be more exciting than this.”
