At least four O‘ahu teams made their appearance during the opening of the three-day ZZ/Rotary Club of West Kaua‘i basketball tournament Thursday night at Kaua‘i High School’s gym. “We have two strong Lai‘e teams,” said Jeff Venzon, commissioner for the
At least four O‘ahu teams made their appearance during the opening of the three-day ZZ/Rotary Club of West Kaua‘i basketball tournament Thursday night at Kaua‘i High School’s gym.
“We have two strong Lai‘e teams,” said Jeff Venzon, commissioner for the ZZ/Rotary Club WK Youth Basketball League. “They might have Kahuku jersies on, but they’re from Lai‘e.”
Additionally, Primetime, a 12-and-under team from Hawai‘i Kai made their appearance with a 53-44 showing over G-Unit.
“Those boys might be small, but they’re always looking,” said Alex Lamadrid, one of the Eastside players who was in the audience. “We saw them play when we were on O‘ahu, and they’re always thinking.”
The enthusiasm of coming from O‘ahu overflowed their game as the white-shirted Hawai‘i Kai athletes would flood the floor whenever a game break opened on the hardwood, with their young arms launching a barrage of spheres to the hoops.
Swoosh, a coed squad, whose members come from all parts of O‘ahu, formed the final off-island team that matched mettle against their Kaua‘i counterparts.
“We have Kelsey,” said Guy Higa, as he pointed out Kelsey Cadiente among the sea of white-shirted Central players who were tangling with the Swoosh in the final game of the night.
Jake Corona combined with VJ Carineo for 10 points each to lead Central to a 33-22 win over Swoosh. Cadiente followed the leaders with four points in the victory.
Jasmine Fontanilla and Rachel Tailele paced the Swoosh effort with eight and six points, respectively.
“We realize the expense of having to travel,” said Leland Tottori, representing the Rotary Club of West Kaua‘i. “We asked the participating Kaua‘i teams to help feed the visiting team members so they wouldn’t have to worry about that part of the trip.”
That led to a potluck buffet offering that lined the supply room to the adjacent pool as team players and their families congregated to enjoy post-game camaraderie together.
Kawehena Johnson finished with a game-high 24 points, but Lai‘e 12U boys fell to Central 12U boys 35-24 in the opening contest for the 12U Boys.
Kahale Fagarang paced the Central victory with 11 points followed by VJ Carineo and Canaan Higa each netting nine marks.
Jordan Slade and Dolton Thronas each netted 11 points to pace the G-Unit 14U to a 47-22 showing over Papalina in the first of three 14U games. Lester Alacar and Dayton Nicholes fired seven and six points, respectively to help the win.
Sean Inouye and Javin Balisacon each finished with four points to pace the Papalina effort. Kalen Kakutani, Xavier Guirao, Anthony Irek, and AC Fernandez each added three points apiece.
Donovan Harrison finished with a game-high 21 points but that could not lift the G-Unit over Primetime in the second 12U game. Joe Duonslet added 10 points for the G-Unit.
Brian Lee paced Primetime with 16 points followed by Tasuya Ono adding 11 marks and Joshua Ko finishing with nine points.
Nehoa Akina and Mua Malufau finished with a dozen and 11 points, respectively to pace Lai‘e 14U in their 41-17 showing over C-Town in the second of three 14U games.
Silas Tacsiat paced C-Town with eight points followed by Austin Simao netting four points.
The championship game for the 12-and-under division is scheduled to tip off at 1 p.m. today, with the 14-and-under title game tipping off at 2 p.m. at the Kaua‘i High School’s gym.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
