KALAHEO — Laukona’s Cody Morden hit the first score of the game Monday. That shot, a bomb from outside the three-point line, was followed by another trey in the quarter en route to leading Laukona to a 55-40 showing over
KALAHEO — Laukona’s Cody Morden hit the first score of the game Monday.
That shot, a bomb from outside the three-point line, was followed by another trey in the quarter en route to leading Laukona to a 55-40 showing over Team Central in Game 2 of the county’s 14 and Under boys basketball program.
Earlier in Game 1, Kekoa Colipano bulled his way through heavy traffic to net a game-high 20 points to lead C-Town to a 52-26 win over Kaulupono.
Morden, the point guard for Laukona, took the lead as Team Central shut down the inside game. He finished with a game-high 16 points in the win.
After firing the initial opener, Laukona capitalized on Central’s ball handling miscues to finish the opening stanza on a 14-8 note behind Morden and Davone Flores leading the charge with 8 and 4 points, respectively.
Laukona put forward a solid defensive effort that shut down Central’s leading scorers, keeping its opposition with no points allowed in the second period and holding Central scoreless for more than half of the fifth period.
“We’re going to a tournament next week, so this is good practice for us,” Team Central coach Clarence Sales said. “The main thing tonight is for the boys to go out there and have fun. Laukona is the perfect team for us to get in shape for our trip.”
Team Central also exerted its share of defense, keeping Kahale Fagarang and Paleku Yasay at bay on offense, and having the foresight to contain Jason Iloreta’s efforts.
That showed in the third period as Central outgunned Laukona 8-1 with Keane Agoot leading the charge on two three-point bombs. But despite the effort, Laukona took a 25-16 lead at the half.
Central came back in the second half, outscoring Laukona 9-6 in the third frame to pull within 3 points before Laukona turned up the pressure.
Following Morden, Fagarang added 10 points with Cameron Largusa finishing with 9 points including a second period trey.
Flores finished with 6 points, Paleku Yasay and Iloreta each contributed a quartet, and a trio from Preston Ikehara-Yasay rounded out the victory.
Agoot finished with high point honors for Central on 11 points, including three from beyond the arc. Canaan Higa, playing on both sides of the ball, finished with 7 points followed by Duke Pauli adding 6 points. Tall man Thomas Niemeier added 4 points, Das and Pita Taufo‘ou each finished with 3 points. Pairs from Brian Andres, Travis Taylan and Cody Iwasaki rounded out the Central effort.
Following Colipano’s lead in Game 1, Bransen Agu added 13 points, Austin Simao finished with 11 points, Nicholas Chow added 6 points and Kalen Kimura rounded out the C-Town win on 4 points.
Paul Oligo Jr. topped the Kaulupono effort with 7 points followed by Chase Parongao and Kaili Lagundino each tucking in 5 points. Neil Magayanes added 4 points, pairs from Ariel Lahip and Brandon Palacio and a digit from Austin Parinas-Kenney rounded out the Waimea math.
Tonight’s games will have the Gee Unit opening against Wailua starting at 6 p.m. followed by Island Athletics matching mettle against the Kalepa Hillsiders starting at 7 p.m.
