KAPA‘A — Without their floor general in the lineup, the Kapa‘a Warriors survived a huge challenge from the Kaua‘i Red Raiders in a 67-56 win, Saturday night at the Kapa‘a High School Gym. Duke Pauli played just about every spot
KAPA‘A — Without their floor general in the lineup, the Kapa‘a Warriors survived a huge challenge from the Kaua‘i Red Raiders in a 67-56 win, Saturday night at the Kapa‘a High School Gym.
Duke Pauli played just about every spot on the floor, scoring a team-high 21 points for Kapa‘a.
Pauli, who is typically playing with his back to the basket on the low post, started the night mainly out on the perimeter as the team’s main ball handler, as Kapa‘a was without the services of point guard Willis Batol.
He moved away from that spot as the game moved along, going back down on the block as Bradley Coloma stepped in nicely for Batol at the one spot.
Kaua‘i’s Davone Florence scored a game-high 29 points, 15 of them coming in the first quarter as he attacked from the outside and canned three 3-pointers in the opening frame.
The game was tied at 41-41 after three quarters and the Warriors got two early threes off of inbounds plays. The first came from Coloma, the second from Stephen Greenleaf who scored 12 points on the night.
Kekoa Colipano scored on a fast-break layup to put the Warriors up 57-50, but the Raiders made a final push, started by a Florence 3-pointer that cut the lead to four.
Bryan Andres skied in the air and plucked a steal for Kaua‘i, then tossed an alley-oop pass to Cameron Largusa, who finished the layup and was fouled on the play. Largusa missed the free throw, leaving Kaua‘i behind 57-55.
It would be the final field goal of the night for the Raiders, who turned it over and missed shots in the final minutes while the Warriors put the game away from the floor and the charity stripe.
Greenleaf made a nice feed to Pauli for a deuce, followed by a Colipano outlet to Greenleaf for the dagger layup at 62-56.
The two teams have now played three tight contests and seem destined to meet up in a playoff situation at the end of the season, with Kaua‘i having won the first half and Kapa‘a now with a leg up on the secod half title.
In other varsity action, the Waimea Menehune barely escaped with a 55-53 win over the Island School Voyagers, who were in good position to pick up their first win of the season at the Waimea High School Gym.
Malcolm Carter had 19 points for Waimea, followed by VJ Carineo’s 16.
Kyle Lee had 20 points to lead the Voyagers, with Canaan Higa scoring 13.
Waimea trailed 23-15 at halftime, but came back with a 22-point third quarter to take a 37-36 lead into the final frame.
They didn’t run away with it and Island stayed close for the duration, but just couldn’t grab a decisive edge.
In JV action, the Kapa‘a Warriors nabbed a 55-47 win over the Kaua‘i Red Raiders, prior to the varsity version at Kapa‘a High School.
The boys are back in action on Wednesday, when the Raiders will host the Menehune at Kaua‘i High School. JV will take the court at 5:30 p.m., followed by varsity.
Island will be back home to take on Kapa‘a, with varsity getting underway at 5:30 p.m.
