WAIMEA — Kapaa High School’s varsity boys basketball team defeated Waimea, 53-29, Friday night on the road. “We did really good tonight. We were thinking about how we were going to get back into the groove,” said Kapaa head coach
WAIMEA — Kapaa High School’s varsity boys basketball team defeated Waimea, 53-29, Friday night on the road.
“We did really good tonight. We were thinking about how we were going to get back into the groove,” said Kapaa head coach John Kaneholani. “We had a couple of good practices, so that was really good.”
The Warriors (4-3 KIF, 2-1 second round) got a double-digit lead in the second quarter and went into halftime with a 29-13 lead en route to the victory.
“I noticed, after coming back from a loss, our team came back as a team instead of doing everything by ourselves,” said Warriors senior forward Joshua Blaine. “That really hurt us in the last game. But we’re just trying to work together and make our bond stronger.”
Waimea assistant coach Hans Reeves said the team simply came out flat that night.
“Just lack of hunger to want to win the game. You can’t play for them. They have to want to win the game themselves,” he said. “It (the desire to win) showed against Kauai High the last time we played them. We’ve got the talent to win.”
Menehune senior guard Jamin Fernandez said one aspect the team improved on, despite the loss, was not giving up as many turnovers.
“I think in the first half, we had four. Not sure how much we had in the game, but we cut it down,” the Waimea senior said. “But our shots weren’t falling. Kapaa was making some nice shots. Just our shots weren’t falling.”
At the end of the night, four Menehune seniors were honored — Fernandez, center Bobby Oliver, guard Bernie Ned and forward Theron Shigematsu.
“It’s been good. We haven’t won, but I played hard every night,” Fernandez said after playing his last home game. “I just tried my best.”
Blaine scored 14 points for Kapaa. Junior forward Mosese Fifita scored 11 points and sophomore forward Carson Schmick scored eight.
Fernandez scored 15 points for the Menehune, including three 3-pointers. Sophomore center Kelly Ragasa scored six points and Ned had four.
Kapaa also won the junior varsity match, 45-40. Morris Unutoa scored 13 points for the JV Warriors and Kasen Castro scored 10 for Waimea.
Waimea (0-7 KIF, 0-3 second round) will play its last regular season game at Kauai (6-0 KIF, 2-0 second round) on Tuesday. The JV match will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity will follow.
“We just got to believe. I know we can play better than this. I know we can,” Fernandez said about Waimea’s next game.
Kapaa will host Kauai on Friday to end the Kauai Interscholastic Federation season.
