LIHU‘E — Laukona went three for four from beyond the arc in the final minute, but fell short as C-Town held on to take a 36-32 win Saturday night. “This was a free throw shootout,” C-Town coach Daniel Simao said.
LIHU‘E — Laukona went three for four from beyond the arc in the final minute, but fell short as C-Town held on to take a 36-32 win Saturday night.
“This was a free throw shootout,” C-Town coach Daniel Simao said. “But, the boys played well, and this (title) was a long time coming. I think the last time we got a title was four years ago.”
With the win, C-Town earns the ZZ Youth Basketball Boys Under 14 title.
C-Town built an early lead with Simao substituting fresh legs throughout the contest to keep the defense strong.
Laukona, however, down by as much as a dozen points in the second half, started attacking the basket in the final two minutes before their outside shooter ripped the first of three treys.
He followed it with two more to pull within three points before Simao called a time out to keep the game in control before the buzzer sounded.
Niko Chow topped the C-town victory with 10 points, eight coming from the charity stripe.
Kekoa Colipani followed with eight points, and Stevenson Rivera and Austin Simao had six points apiece. Kalen Kimura finished with four first-half points, and a pair from Bransen Agu rounded out the scoring, Agu showing strong in rebounds for C-Town.
Eastside’s BJ Melchor scored a game-high 14 points in a losing effort to the Gee Unit who closed off the inside for a 33-28 win.
Dalton Thronas and Dayton Bayot each fired six points to lead the Gee Unit with Princeton Gee adding four. Kyle Lee, Donovan Harrison and Winston Gee each finished with three points to round out the Gee Unit leaders.
ZZ Youth Basketball League commissioner Jeff Venzon said that with the completion of the Boys Under 14 schedule, the league will open their Girls 14 and Under and Boys 16 and Under programs starting today at Kapa‘a High School.
The girls tip off first at 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. followed by the boys at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday night games move to the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center starting at 5:30 p.m.
Games for these two divisions are played Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
