Q: You lost most of your team to prom night, much of them starters, and you only have six players left. How do you win? A: Ask Kapa’a Warrior coach Michael Ban – he’s the guy who led six girls
Q: You lost most of your team to prom night, much of them starters, and you only have six players left. How do you win?
A: Ask Kapa’a Warrior coach Michael Ban – he’s the guy who led six girls to an unbelievable 26-25 win over the Waimea Menehunes, Friday night.
Ban’s strategy was simple: Hold on to the ball, waste the clock, and hope a few buckets go in here and there.
It worked, and it handed the Warriors a 4-0 record and first round honors.
But it only worked because the six girls on the court blotched the three vulnerabilies that could have nixed the clever plan: They limited turnovers, played tough zone defense and let Waimea miss shots.
The six girls: Brianne States, Kanoe Arinaga, Jackie Alapai, Bristol King, Tescilly Macguire and Ihilani Yama, proved patience and heart can pretty much do anything.
By no means was it easy.
Although they were down 25-19 with one minute remaining, Waimea’s Virginia Aguilar hit a putback and Jannah Tafua knocked in a trey to bring the Menehunes to within two. But Waimea couldn’t find the game winning bucket when they were down by one with six seconds on the clock, and it was all she wrote.
Yama, who assumed a leadership role in the win, led the Warriors with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals. Arinaga had five points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. States had four points and two rebounds. Alapai scored three points, one rebound, one steals, one block. Macguire had three points, two rebounds, one assist.
For Waimea, Melody Manuel scored nine points, one assist. Erin Castillo had three points, seven rebounds. Ashley Vea has three rebounds. Ashley Mier had six points, one rebound, two steals. Aguilar had four points, two rebounds. Tafua had three points.
