PUHI — Two of the four visiting teams controlled their games, and Team Swoosh dropped both its 14 and 16 games on the first night the visitors played at the 2009 Merv Lopes Kaua‘i Hoops Classic, Friday. Noa Kinimaka finished
PUHI — Two of the four visiting teams controlled their games, and Team Swoosh dropped both its 14 and 16 games on the first night the visitors played at the 2009 Merv Lopes Kaua‘i Hoops Classic, Friday.
Noa Kinimaka finished with a game-high 15 points to lead Ali‘i Basketball to a 32-29 edge over Hanakila in the first of two Boys 14 Under games played at the Island School gym. Swoosh Basketball dropped to Papalina 38-26 in the second match of the Boys 14 division.
Richard Hardy netted a game-high 19 points to lead NJB Warriors to a 76-11 win over the Kalepa Hillsiders in the first of two Boys 16 matches, and host Team Central picked up its second win of the tourney with a 45-26 win over Swoosh Basketball 16s.
Hanakila had its game in control with 1:14 showing when a desperation foul on a breakaway turned the tide for the Ali‘i, sending Isaiah Visoria to the charity stripe.
Visoria deadlocked the match, 29-29 on his first shot and pulled the Ali‘i ahead 30-29 on his second. Jayden Matsumoto iced the win with his bucket, capitalizing on an inbound turnover with less than a minute showing.
“They practice hard on the three-point shots,” said the father of Matsumoto following the match. “They’re so short, they need to get the ball over the other guys, so the three-point is their answer.”
Ali‘i finished the match with four treys, three coming from Kinimaka and one from Adam Higashino, his only score of the match.
Following Kinimaka, Matsumoto netted six points followed Higashino, Shayne Wolfe and Isaiah Visoria each finishing with three points. Cameron Ng added a pair.
Kala Kauhane topped the Hanakila scoring with 10 points as the team coached by Phillip Baclayon has been riding a roller coaster since Wednesday where they dropped to Kalepa during the opening night of the Merv Lopes Classic.
But, rebounding from that loss, Hanakila took revenge at home during the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association Boys Under 14 season-final game, Thursday, before dropping to Ali‘i by three points, Friday.
Following Kauhane, James Paik added nine points, Marlon Cudiamat got eight points in the middle and Daniel Reis finished with five points. Guard Kelii Koa Baclayon, only recently returning to the hardwood following an injury, had a third-quarter pair.
Papalina rebounded from a halftime deficit with Donavan Harrison netting a game-high dozen points to lead the Kalaheo blueshirts in the second Boys 14 game. Guard Tystin Gummerus, stymied on his drives in the first half, finished with nine points and Vaughn Thompson, Papalina’s tall man working the middle, added six points.
Jacob McEnroe paced the Swoosh 14 effort with 10 points followed by Jordan Paulo adding seven points.
Kaili Schumacher-Lagundino, exploding the inside during the Wednesday opener, was held to just six points for Kalepa while Jimar Domingo added three points.
Following Hardy in the NJB Warriors’ win, Lanaki Apelle and Isaak Jando added 18 and 17 points, respectively.
Joe Duronslet continues to spark the host Team Central 16s, combining with Brian Andres against Swoosh 16s for 14 points each. Big man Lewis Lindsey and Canaan Higa each finished with six points in Central’s win.
David Daniel and Kapono Cummings, normally a Kalepa player, led the Swoosh 16 effort with 13 and eight points, respectively.
The championship games for the 2009 Merv Lopes Kaua‘i Hoops Classic is scheduled for this afternoon at Island School.
