KAPA‘A — It took two years, but suddenly, the Kaua‘i JV girls basketball team is 2-0. Ross Shimabukuro, the new Kaua‘i High School athletic director, said while checking on the team, discovered they hadn’t won a game in two seasons.
KAPA‘A — It took two years, but suddenly, the Kaua‘i JV girls basketball team is 2-0.
Ross Shimabukuro, the new Kaua‘i High School athletic director, said while checking on the team, discovered they hadn’t won a game in two seasons.
But Tuesday night, coming off the heels of a 37-23 win over Waimea Friday night, Kaua‘i notched its second straight victory with a 39-24 showing over Kapa‘a at the Bernice Hundley Gym.
Rolling behind Jori-Anne Jasper’s height to counter Kapa‘a’s Tori Tuttle, Kaua‘i pulled out to an 11-4 first stanza and never looked back.
Jasper netted 4 points and got help from Jaimee Mariano who dropped a net buster from beyond the three-point line. A bucket from Alyssa Carvalho and Janessa Grady figured in that opening lead while Kapa‘a was limited to just 4 points from Tuttle.
Kapa‘a, reeling from a 22-6 halftime deficit never got rolling until late in the third period, their best scoring frame.
Kira Nakamura ignited the Warrior JV effort with 4 points with Leina‘ala McCabe and Shalyn Tupou, playing an aggressive inside game, added a bucket each to give the Warriors a 12-10 deficit in the third quarter.
Working against the clock, the Warriors outscored Kaua‘i 9-5 in the final period with Nakamura and Mele Yama ripping the twine from outside the three-point arc.
A bucket from Ash-Lyn Lee and a charity digit from Tuttle accounted for the final-period surge.
Jasper topped all scorers with a game-high 10 points and numerous boards on both ends of the court. She was followed by Carvalho and Grady who each finished with 7 points, Carvalho netting a trey in the third period while Grady was 2-for-7 at the free throw line.
Mariano finished with 5 points, Christina Banach was 4-for-6 at the charity stripe, Rachel Hamamura added her 3 points in the second frame, and pairs from Randee Layosa and Kanani Dreier rounded out the win.
Nakamura, the aspiring American Idol, topped Kapa‘a’s effort with 7 points followed by Tuttle contributing 6 points and numerous blocks and boards. Lee finished with 4 points, Yama and Tupou ended with 3 points each, and a pair from McCabe rounded out the Warriors’ scoring.
Kapa‘a will host Waimea Saturday evening starting at 5:30 p.m.
