KALAHEO — Four seconds showed on the clock when Kaimi Strickland’s bucket nudged the scoreboard past 15 points, Monday night. But that effort fell short as the Gee’s Angels took a 19-17 win at the buzzer in the first of
KALAHEO — Four seconds showed on the clock when Kaimi Strickland’s bucket nudged the scoreboard past 15 points, Monday night.
But that effort fell short as the Gee’s Angels took a 19-17 win at the buzzer in the first of two games played in the county’s 11 and Under girls basketball league.
Pili Chung slipped through the Red defense to finish with a game-high 7 points in the Kamikaze White’s 22-11 edge in Game 2 at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
After battling to a 0-0 deadlock for two full periods, the posture of Game 1 switched from defense to offense as buckets from Lele Hanie, Chazlyn Zablan and Uilani McCabe put the Gee’s Angels up by a digit, 6-5 at the half as the Kaulupono Girls worked to stay close on buckets from Strickland and Nicole Palacio.
The Angels continued to build on their lead coming off the break to finish 6-5 in the fourth period on field goals from Zablan, Brooke Nakamura and Hanie.
Kaulupono sparked a final period rally, and after Strickland’s final-minute bucket which was met with strong approval from the fans, the Westside girls managed to outshoot the Angels 4-3, but came up short after the scoreboard refused to budge from the 15-point mark.
Strickland topped all scorers with 6 points followed by Palacio adding 5 points along with a strong presense in the paint. Mariyah Oliver’s height paid off for her with two field goals late in the game and a pair from Jenaiah Banasihan, whose value came in the strong defensive posture she exerted against Hanie, closed the books.
The Angels got balanced scoring from Hanie, McCabe and Zablan who all finished with 4 points apiece followed by a 3-point contribution from Riana Ralston. Nakamura and Shai-anne Abigania closed off the win with pairs apiece.
Chung finished with 5 of her game-high 7 points coming in the first half as the Kamikaze White held the Kamikaze Red to just a pair in the first half. That bucket came from Shyanne Almarza as the White took a 11-2 halftime lead.
Following Chung’s lead, Shaylee Huni and Koahe Cordeiro chipped in 4 points apiece. Kawai Calderon added 3 points and Kailee Yago and Gillian Gregorio finished with a pair each.
Annie Ballesteros, strong in the paint for the Red, topped its scoring with 5 points, all coming in the second half. Almarza finished with 4 points and a pair from Lele Silva, strong in the No. 3 pole, rounded out the effort.
The Kamikaze White go up against the Gee’s Angels in the first of two games starting at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center. Following that match, the Kamikaze Red tangle with Kaulupono Girls starting at 7 p.m.