KALAHEO — Devon Takenaka shredded the twine from 11 o’clock with less than a minute remaining in the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association’s Boys Over 18 championship game. That three-ball pulled Illmatic to within a two-point deficit, 56-58, the closest the
KALAHEO — Devon Takenaka shredded the twine from 11 o’clock with less than a minute remaining in the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association’s Boys Over 18 championship game.
That three-ball pulled Illmatic to within a two-point deficit, 56-58, the closest the blueshirts came to the championship, Sunday night at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
Kaleo Cummings answered with a charity pair to pull the Kalepa Hillsiders out to a four-point bulge, 60-56, with less than 30 seconds showing.
A pair of three-point Illmatic shot attempts bounced off the rim as the seconds ticked down on the 60-56 Kalepa win.
Earlier, Mixed Plate’s low post Trent Thompson finished with 13 points to lead the team to a third place berth with a 50-37 win over Team 1.
Following Thompson, William Carbonel and Koa Navarro netted 10 points each in the win. Kekoa Colipano and R.J. Pillos added six points each as Mixed Plate held the lead from the opening tipoff.
Brendan McDaniels took the lead for the Team 1 effort with 11 points followed by P.J. Oligo netting nine second-half points, including a sorely-needed three-ball in the third quarter that kept Team 1 in the running.
Braxton Garma finished with seven points and Kalen Abihai added five, James Sagucio added four and Kasey Okihara had a digit and was a key under the board for Team 1.
With the Kalepa lead as high as 13 points in one point of the game, Illmatic stayed close, but could not get the upper hand over the tough defense spearheaded through the combined efforts of Travis Stine, Austin Simao, and the Cummings brothers, Kaleo and Kapono.
“We exchanged baskets all night, and our defense wasn’t up,” said Illmatic’s Mike Lindsey, finishing with eight points along with Takenaka, following the match.
Referee Edmund Acoba noted the Illmatic “rough start,” when its shot attempts, guarded heavily by Kalepa, just wouldn’t drop.
But despite this, Illmatic was chasing just seven points at the half, 33-26.
“We can come back,” said Illmatic point guard Tab Matsumoto who finished with a game-high 22 points, 15 coming in the first half, including three treys that kept Illmatic in the chase.
However, at the end of the third quarter, the deficit still remained at seven points, and rose to as high as nine points in the final period before Takenaka’s trey pulled Illmatic to within two.
“They (Illmatic) had their chances,” said Steven Matsumoto, one of the KYBA leaders, following the game. “They had many chances.”
The win was especially sweet for Kalepa that finished the season with one loss, that one loss coming at the hands of Illmatic early in the season.
Randy Vicoy took the scoring lead for the Hillsiders with a dozen points followed by Travis Stine and Davone Florence adding 11 points each.
Kaleo Cummings finished with nine points, Austin Simao added seven, and Preston Keough finished with six points. Kapono Cummings rounded out the victory with four points.
Following Matsumoto’s 22 points, Nouveau Naumu added 10 points, eight coming in the final period, including a pair of treys. Mike Lindsey added eight points and Takenaka was limited to eight second-half points. Keelan Sakuda added four first-half points and Matt Lindsey finished with four points before fouling out in the final quarter.
Peter Rayno and Keoki Cummings head up the coaching staff of the Kalepa Hillsiders that include Ian Lactaotao, Keough, Pakelo Dettloff, Florence, Kilika Dettloff, Brandon Wong, Simao, John Beralas, Stine, Vicoy, Kapono and Kaleo Cummings, and Clifton Asuncion.
