WAIMEA—The Menehunes were ready to play. Ashley Hori, who spearheaded the Menehunes in their loss against Kapa`a on Tuesday night, was back in the middle of the action as she sparked a come-from-behind 44-42 victory with a little more than
WAIMEA—The Menehunes were ready to play.
Ashley Hori, who spearheaded the
Menehunes in their loss against Kapa`a on Tuesday night, was back in the middle
of the action as she sparked a come-from-behind 44-42 victory with a little
more than a minute left on the game clock Thursday night at the Clem Gomes
Gym.
Trailing 36-40 with 1:47 left, Menehunes’ coach Pedro Saligumba called
a timeout to rally the girls in blue.
The timeout didn’t seem to dampen
the Raiders’ momentum as Misty Hug promptly dumped a bucket that was answered
in kind by Erica Iwai, setting off a round of cheers and applause for the
forward’s first (and only) goal of the night.
With 1:14 showing, and facing
a 4-point deficit, Hori was sent to the charity stripe for a successful pair
that pulled Waimea to within two.
Hori returned to the line eight seconds
later, but failed to deadlock the contest as she dropped the opener of a
charity pair. The scoreboard showed 42-41 in favor of Kaua`i with 1:06
left.
The inbound crossed midcourt only to stall on a jump-ball giving
possession back to Waimea with 51 seconds left.
Jennifer Fukino took the
feed, but the ball bounced harmlessly with Robyn Manuel diving in vain as the
ball went out of bounds with 34 seconds remaining. The crowd, one of the
larger ones this season, felt the electricity.
Hori received the inbound
and fired from the top of the key with 13 seconds showing. The ball swoshed
through the net giving the Menehunes the 43-42 go-ahead, only their third of
the night.
Fukino was fouled with just a second showing, and one half of a
charity pair was all it took to ice the 44-42 victory.
Body battering
defense was the scenario as Raider guard Alisa Racelo was sandwiched between
the double pillared defense of Fukino and Robyn Manuel who successfully held
the Raider guard to just four points on the evening.
Witnessed by the
visiting St. Elias Community School team from Yukon, Canada, the slugfest kept
the game scoreless for the first three-and-a-half minutes when Waimea’s Charis
Castillo provided the first strike and Sherlyn Alcon widening the gap 4-1 with
3:04 showing in the quarter.
Back-to-back buckets by Kaua`i’s Elisa Inouye
and Cissy Dennis pulled the Raiders back, with a trey by Kehau Regidor with
Kaua`i the 8-4 nod with 1:06 left in the opening frame.
But, Hori fired
with 12 seconds showing to deadlock the contest, and a half of a foul pair by
Robyn Manuel pulled the Menehunes ahead 10-9 at the buzzer.
Hori paced the
Waimea scoring with a game-total 14 points.
