Kaua‘i 27, Waimea 23 — The game came down to which team was the most ready and to which team could pull of the waiting game better. Turns out, it was Kaua‘i High School as the Raiders beat the Menehune
Kaua‘i 27, Waimea 23 — The game came down to which team was the most ready and to which team could pull of the waiting game better.
Turns out, it was Kaua‘i High School as the Raiders beat the Menehune of Waimea High School 27-23 last night at the Raiderdome.
It was a rare, low-scoring game for the Raiders who earlier this week scored 91 points. Waimea held Kaua‘i to 20 points in the first half and were only trailing by 1.
At the start of the second half, Kaua‘i got 2 points from Basil Walton when he was sent to the foul line. After that is when the mental waiting game begun.
Kaua‘i stayed on the outside the arch and played a slow, uneventful game of catch among the players while Waimea remained on the inside with their hands raised. Jeremy Robinson to the left stood with his arms folded as if he was bored. Walton positioned himself to the right corner and laughed at how long the clock ran.
Waiting for any type of play, none of the Menehune budged and Kaua‘i continued to run down the clock. Nearly three minutes went by without a single play.
It was until the final 10 seconds of the third quarter that Kaua‘i’s Travis Stine made a move and scored the Raiders’ set of points for that quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Waimea, trailing by 5 points, decided it was going to do the same play and stall for time. With 2:56 left in the game, Waimea head coach Neil Pigao decided to call a time out to break it up a bit.
After the inbound, Gregory Griffin sunk a 3-pointer to bring the Menehune within 2 points at 24-22.
On a Kaua‘i possession, Tyrus Ceria-Lux looked to bring the ball upcourt when it was stolen by Braxton Garma who had the chance to tie the game. On the drive up, Garma was fouled and sent to the line to shoot a pair.
Garma missed the first, but sunk the second to bring the Menehune within 1. Waimea had two more chances to win the game in the final seconds with another shot from Garma. When that bounced off the rim, Keelan Sakuda snagged the rebound but also failed to sink it in.
In the final possession, Walton caught a long, inbound pass from Robinson for the last scores of the night.
Walton finished with 9 points. Travis Stine finished with 9 points and eight rebounds. Waimea’s Griffin also finished with 9 points and grabbed four rebounds. Kaimana Girod finished with six rebounds.
In the junior varsity game, Kaua‘i beat Waimea 63-35. Kaua‘i was led by Cody Morden with 10 points followed by Nicko Chow who had 8.
Waimea’s Malcolm Carter led the Menehune with 14 points.
Boys basketball resumes on Wednesday when Waimea hosts Kapa‘a High School at the Clem Gomes Gym.
