KALAHEO — Kilauea Hui’s Claire Owens was 1-for-2 on her last charity pair, Wednesday. There was just 11 seconds remaining and the resulting shot gave them a 32-28 lead. But more than that, the Kamikaze would not die as Rachael
KALAHEO — Kilauea Hui’s Claire Owens was 1-for-2 on her last charity pair, Wednesday.
There was just 11 seconds remaining and the resulting shot gave them a 32-28 lead. But more than that, the Kamikaze would not die as Rachael Taira swished the net just as the clock turned 0:00.
The bomb from 8 o’clock came up just a digit short as the Hui took a 32-31 win back to Kilauea.
Owens’ game-winning free throw earned the top-seeded Hui one of two slots in the championship game coming up tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. at the Kilauea Neighborhood Center.
Kaulupono Girls, with its 42-17 showing over Wailua, will fill in the second slot.
The Kamikaze will face Wailua for third place honors.
Balanced scoring was the order for the Hui who saw April Johnson, Owens, and Kirstie Daly nail 6 points apiece in the victory. Kapua Chandler followed with 4 points, Kieren Pond got 3 final-period points after overcoming a full-body block by Taira of a pass underneath in the second half.
Sarah Tangalin, Kimiko Kuwabara and Danielle Jure each netted pairs and a digit from Caroline Troutman closed the scorebooks.
Three-point bombs from Taira, Maureen Silbolboro and Jaimee Mariano pulled the Kamikaze back from an 18-9 halftime deficit, but despite several opportunities to score that came up empty, was in the chase up until Taira’s game-ending trey.
Mariano topped the Kamikaze scoring with 7 points followed by Silbolboro’s 6 points, both coming from outside the three-point arc. Lauren James finished with 4 points, and Taira’s only score was the buzzer-beating bomb.
Christina Banach finished with 3 points, Lacey Lucas, Krystal Ijima and Kira Taylan all netted pairs, and a digit from Korey Arashiro, a flurry of red in the third quarter, rounded out the effort.
In the earlier contest, Kathleen Cadiente and Aiko Grande each netted 15 points to lead the Kaulupono victory. Kelsey Cadiente finished with 10 points and pairs from Tasha Acosta and Kori Sakamoto rounded out the win.
Wailua, suffering the loss of one of its scoring leaders who was injured in last Saturday’s game, got four points from Victoria Olsen, Hanalei Gomes and Chanita Makanui in the effort. Chelsie Villatora followed with 3 points, and a pair from Kennilyn Nakamura rounded out the effort.
Tipoff for the championship series is 10 a.m., tomorrow, at the Kilauea Neighborhood Center.
