It was evident from the start that the Kapa‘a Warriors were going to have a long night, as Kaua‘i opened up the Friday night contest with a 142 run. The Red Raiders cruised to a 5729 win over the Warriors
It was evident from the start that the Kapa‘a Warriors were going to have a long night, as Kaua‘i opened up the Friday night contest with a 142 run.
The Red Raiders cruised to a 5729 win over the Warriors and for 10 Kaua‘i players, (Jeremy Manuel, Kekoa Crowell, Garrett Sakimae, Brandon Ballesteros, Matt Palaroan, Lance Okasaki, John Penn, Futi Tavana, Kevin Cadiente, and Kevin Downing) it was the last time they would play a KIF contest on their home floor.
Manuel picked up the slack for Kaua‘i in the first half with seven straight points in the first quarter, which included two threepointers.
Kapa‘a managed to control the ball and ate up most of the first half clock.
After one period of play, the Red Raiders held a 144 advantage.
Both teams managed to put up only eight points in the second quarter, as Kapa‘a continued to control the ball.
Manuel led Kaua‘i with 10 first half points, followed by Tavana with seven points and two monster blocks. Amini Ta‘ufo‘ou paced the Warriors with four points at the half.
Kaua‘i began the second half just like the first half with a big run, which gave them a 306 lead. Junior shooting guard Josh Bradbury and Tavana sparked the 100 run with two buckets apiece.
Sophomore forward Jordan Cox nailed an eightfoot jumper at the end of the third quarter, which gave Kaua‘i the 4014 lead. The Red Raiders then went on for the 5729 win.
Tavana finished up the ball game with a gamehigh 17 points. Manuel tallied 15 and Bradbury punched in with 10 for Kaua‘i.
Freshman forward Elijah Phillips got some valuable time on the court for Kapa‘a and led his squad with seven points, which included a buzzerbeating trifecta at the end of the game. Bryan Maneja, who had the touch from the charity stripe, finished with five points.
JV: Kapa‘a steals the game
The Warriors were down by as many as 12 points in the second half, but managed to steal a win from the Red Raiders, 5047.
Kapa‘a used a 125 fourth quarter run to cut the margin to five at 4540, as Coty Salausa and John Beralas led the way.
With under a minute to go, Kory Pang nailed a threepoint bomb, which put Kapa‘a down by one. Then after a Kaua‘i turnover, Salausa nailed a trifecta, which gave the Warriors the lead for good at 4847.
Tyrus CeriaLux and Bradley Semana made valiant attempts to tie the game up, but their threepointers bounced off the rim and Kapa‘a went on for the exciting 5047 win.
Salausa, who has shown throughout the season, that he’s deadly from anywhere on the court, scored a gamehigh 22 points, which included four threepointers. John Beralas and Halem Medina contributed with eight points each.
CeriaLux, another dangerous player with serious range, led Kaua‘i with 18 points and twothree point bombs. Kupa Graycochea and Jeremy Robinson combined for 15 points in the loss.
KIF basketball moves to the Clem Gomes Gymnasium on Tuesday, Feb. 8, as Kaua‘i battles Waimea in a game that could decide the KIF title.
