KAPA‘A — When Janna Soto lunged for a desperation save in the first quarter, there was something in that intensity that foretold the sparkplug who combined with the muscle of Mallorie Hepa to lead the Waimea Menehune to a 35-22 win in a defensive slugfest at the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapa‘a.
Soto topped all scorers with a dozen points to lead Waimea, and unlike some of the other field who were plagued by poor free throw shooting, Soto finished a perfect 4-4 at the charity line.
Hepa kept the space open in and around the paint, taking feeds, rebounds, and clearing shots to finish with nine points in the win followed by guard Tiana Samio who netted seven markers, five coming from her 5-10 freethrow performance.
For the Warriors, the loss was especially hard to swallow considering they were leading 7-4 at the first quarter, holding Waimea to a scant two points until Hepa broke open at the buzzer to keep Waimea in the chase.
The turning point came in the second quarter when Hepa announced Waimea, and led the defensive effort that saw Kapa‘a with no field goals in the quarter, Kapa‘a’s only score coming from a pair of charity shots in their 2-for-5 showing.
Jackie Alapai ignited for a trey and a field goal in the third quarter only to be answered by Hepa, and it was Brittney Carvalho coming off the bench for a crucial four points in the last quarter that kept Kapa‘a close, Carvalho finishing with six points.
The loss was aggravated by Alapai drawing an ejection with just five seconds showing on the clock meaning the co-captain will be sitting on the bench on the Warriors’ next outing.
For Kapa‘a, Alapai had the leading score with nine points until the foul with Carvalho following at six.
In the JV contest, Kapa‘a got Waimea in foul trouble in the first half enroute to taking a 42-37 win behind Kieren Pond’s 18 points.
Waimea’s Krystle Manguba-Glover finished with 15 points to lead the Menehune.
Kaua‘i will make the trip to the Clem Gomes Gym on Friday night with the JV contest tipping off starting at 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity game.
