KALAHEO — Eastside hoopsters closed the first round on a winning note Monday night in the ZZ/Rotary Club of West Kaua‘i Boys 12 Under Youth basketball league. Kasen Delos Reyes paced the Kaua‘i Fire Raiders with a dozen points en
KALAHEO — Eastside hoopsters closed the first round on a winning note Monday night in the ZZ/Rotary Club of West Kaua‘i Boys 12 Under Youth basketball league.
Kasen Delos Reyes paced the Kaua‘i Fire Raiders with a dozen points en route to their 36-22 win over Papalina in game one and Eastside pulled away from Kaulupono for a 45-23 win in game two.
Galen Bostick notched 8 of his game-total 9 points in the first half as he joined with Jayden Albo to power Papalina to a 13-12 halftime lead against the quicker Kaua‘i Fire Raiders.
But the Raiders came back to outgun Papalina 22-9 in the second half fueled by Delos Reyes who notched seven of their 15 third-period marks.
Following Delos Reyes, the Raiders got 8 points from Jensen Koga and 6 from Kameron Perez. Austin Oshiro and Michael Curnan each finished with 4 points and a pair from Micah Chow rounded out the victory math.
Bostick topped the Papalina effort with 9 points followed by Brandon Palacio and Jayden Albo chipping in 5 points apiece.
Keoni Kinzie might have been the tallest player on the court in game two as he used his height advantage in multi-tasking the Eastside win.
Kinzie anchored the defense in the paint, keeping the smaller Kaulupono shooters on the outside and was the go-to guy for the buckets, notching 8 of his game-high 14 points in the second quarter.
Jude Cruz and Keane Agoot assisted the win on 10-point notes. Johnathan Crage and Kapono Thronas-Kaheonei each finished with 4 points, but it was the sole trey by Kanai Thronas-Kaheonei that ignited the crowd and the fuse that gave Eastside the advantage in the second period.
Ariel Lahip’s no-fear posture against the much taller Eastside squad paced Kaulupono with 11 points followed by P.J. Oligo finishing with 8. Kani Lagundino rounded out the effort with 4 points.
The 12 Under boys league opens round two tonight when Papalina tangles with Eastside starting at 5:30 p.m. The Kaua‘i Fire Raiders will match up against Kaulupono at 6:30 p.m.
