Warrior wahine place at states

Kapaa High School’s varsity girls basketball team defeated Saint Francis School of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, 39-35, Friday morning at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.

With the win, the Warrior wahine placed fifth at the New City Nissan Girls Basketball Championship — Division II tournament. 

“We had a little bit more experience playing at this level. That helped us out,” said Kapaa head coach William Aki in a phone interview following Saturday’s game. “A lot of it had to do with running our offense better.”

Senior guard Ariel Cummings scored nine points for the Warriors, and had seven rebounds and one assist in Saturday’s contest. Junior forward Tori Daligcon-Pomaikai had eight points and 17 rebounds.

Kapaa senior guard Shai-anne Abigania had six points, two rebounds and two assists. Sophomore forward Paea Tafea had three points and 11 rebounds.

Freshman guard Nani Santos was Saint Francis’ leading scorer with 15 points. Freshman forward Misiona Ribeiro had six points, 11 rebounds and one assist for the Saints.

Prior to Friday’s game, Kapaa lost to Kamehameha Schools — Hawaii of the Big Island, 44-31, on Wednesday and defeated Oahu’s Castle, 48-39, on Thursday.

“The first game we played, we played really sluggish. We turned the ball over a lot. We didn’t play to the potential we could,” Aki said. “First game jitters cost us. What we did to correct it was just slow them down and told them to just run the offense. It helped boost their level of play. 

“They deserved to play at this level,” he added.

Though Kapaa will be losing its two starting guards, Abigania and Cummings, Aki hopes those returning will retain the experienced gained from playing at the state tournament and build on it for next season.

“We have a lot of leaders coming back. It will help boost the team,” he said.