LIHU‘E — Tommy Patch stood out in the sea of parents and aspiring hoopsters as the county’s Agency of Recreation under the Office of Community Assistance opened the doors to their annual Hoop Shoot competition Friday night at the Kaua‘i
LIHU‘E — Tommy Patch stood out in the sea of parents and aspiring hoopsters as the county’s Agency of Recreation under the Office of Community Assistance opened the doors to their annual Hoop Shoot competition Friday night at the Kaua‘i High School gym.
Dressed in a light blue Kilauea basketball outfit, the Kapa‘a Middle School student stood head and shoulders above the sea of hoopsters, calm, collected, and focussed.
Stepping to the line of the competition, a perfect score was the farthest thing from Patch’s mind, his thoughts were to finish respectfully.
His first pair slipped through the net. Then, the second pair for a 12-point total. The free throw pair, each shot worth three points, whizzed through effortlessly.
The second corner shots slipped through as easily as the first corner’s giving Patch a 28 points at this point as the clock ticked down.
Two more to go. Will he freeze?
The crowd’s attention turned to the tall middle school student. The first shot sank followed by the second as Patch closed the circle with a perfect showing – 30 points to take the lead in the Boys 12-13 division.
No one else challenged the feat as Jeffrey Loe-Mills took second place in the 12-13 division with 18 points.
However, shootouts determined winners in several positions as Kila Youn outshot Lopito Parong in a shootout as both hoopsters netted 17 points, Youn taking third on the decider.
Layne Lutao and Kea Lopez rounded out the top six slots in the division with 15 and 12 points respectively.
On the girls side, Kori Sakamoto came dressed in the red of the Comets, and soared to first place in the 12-13 Girls competition with 20 points following a shaky start on the inside.
Rebekah Duncan followed a point back with Mai‘lika Napoleon finishing in third with 17 points. Whitney Cachero netted 16 points, Chaelyn Briones had a dozen, and Chanelle Hashimoto rounded out the top six with five points.
Evan Zamora-Babila Scharder netted 24 points to take the top slot of the 10-11 age division, just a point better than second place finisher Kalen Haraguchi who ended with 23 points.
Travis Koga followed with 21 points with Kaipo Chin in fourth place, finishing the competition with 20 points. Golden Wong and Jimar Domingo rounded out the top six of 30 shooters with 19 and 18 points respectively.
A shootout for the top slot of the 10-11 Girls division was taken by Bree Ann Cox- Abuan over Teal Basquez, Jondelle Aceret- Ipac, and Janisher DeFabian, all four girls finishing the 1-minute competition round tied at 16 points and their positions being determined by highest points following the 30-second court time.
Taryn Alisna and Bristy Agu rounded out the top six girls of 29 competitors, the pair also being tied at 15 points with positions being determined by a shootout.
The hoopsters came from around the island, their appearance at Kaua‘i High School’s finals being determined by tryouts at their individual school level competition under the auspices of the Agency on Recreation.
In addition to the trophies, medals, and achievement awards that were distributed, aspiring basketball players had an opportunity to win one of six leather basketballs that were distributed as door prizes, three going to the 10-11 age group, and three to the 12-13 age group.
The hoop shoot signals the start of community basketball that begins on Monday, Nov. 10 at the Kilauea Neighborhood Center with the first game tipping off at 6 p.m.
