Fourth place isn’t bad at all. Especially against top-notched teams from around the state and Mainland. C-Town, a 14-and-under Kaua‘i team represented the island well, with a fourth place finish last weekend at the 13th Annual NJB Hawai‘i Basketball Classic.
Fourth place isn’t bad at all. Especially against top-notched teams from around the state and Mainland.
C-Town, a 14-and-under Kaua‘i team represented the island well, with a fourth place finish last weekend at the 13th Annual NJB Hawai‘i Basketball Classic.
“I feel proud to have taken these seven eighth graders and two seventh graders on a tournament for the first time as a coach,” C-Town coach Daniel Simao said. “I have played with some of these kids for a long time and watched all of them grow through the years.”
The pool play format tournament fielded 12 teams, including one Mainland team, a Kona squad and nine O‘ahu teams.
“Playing in O‘ahu is different than Kaua‘i,” Simao said. “Their 14-and-under division can probably compete with our 17-and-under divisions and win, too. The speed of play was extremely fast, which forced our kids to play up to that level. Plus, for being a core team with the exception of two players, we did really well.”
In its first contest, Honolulu’s Hawaiian Punch slugged C-Town, 36-34.
At the half, the Punch held a 15-14 advantage and the game continued to be close in the second half.
“We fell by as much as eight points midway in the second half,” Simao said. “The boys then made a run for the game but fell short 2 points with the buzzer going off.”
Kekoa Colipano led C-Town with 10 points, followed by Stevenson Rivera with nine, Cameron Largusa with five, Niko Chow with three and Kahale Fagarang, Bransen Agu and Austin Simao with two points apiece.
In game two, C-Town bounced back with a 43-38 upset victory against top-seeded, Honolulu Sharks.
“Despite the size and play of the sharks, we played tough and kept the game close,” Simao said. “Niko Chow led the way with five buckets from the field in the half.”
C-Town played tough defense and went seven for nine from the charity stripe.
“We outscored the Sharks 23-14 in the second half,” Simao said. “Free throws won the game.”
Niko Chow paced C-Town with 14 points. Other top scorers were Kekoa Colipano (six), Bransen Agu (seven), Austin Simao (eight), Cameron Largusa (four), Kalen Kimura (two) and Stevenson Rivera (two).
“This game pushed us into the championship side of the tourney as the No. 2 seed from our pool,” Simao said. “We were to play the No. 1 seed from another pool. To our surprise, another one of Honolulu’s Sharks teams was waiting for us. Feeling like we were surrounded by Sharks, we played on.”
Against the Sharks, C-Town squeaked out a 40-38 triumph, behind 12 points from Austin Simao and 10 each from Cameron Largusa and Kekoa Colipano.
“It was a back and forth battle with C-town struggling with ball control, but staying alive at the free throw line,” Simao said. “It was our ruthless ground attack, which gave us the edge. Going to the free throw line and making ‘em count. We went to the line and shot 19 throws with nine falling for us. Austin Simao led the free throw contest with a 8-12 showing from the line in the game, topping all the scorers with 12.”
Other top point makers included Niko Chow with four and both Stevenson Rivera and Bransen Agu with two points each.
“Winning this game resulted in going to the semis to play Kamehameha’s Tropical Storm,” Simao said.
The Storm climbed out to a 21-11 first half lead and stymied C-Town the rest of the way.
“The Storm did what their name said and that was storm in on C-town and take a lead that would never diminish,” Simao said.
Kamehameha eventually held on for the 42-27 victory.
“Despite throwing every type of defense and attack, we could not weather the Storm,” Simao said. “This team was ready and well-deserving of the win. Losing that game sent us to the fight for third against the first Shark team that we upset. We were determined to play them just as hard.”
After going up 25-20, the Honolulu team refused to relinquish the lead in the 51-46 win.
“Being that we had beaten this team, we had confidence to play another good close game,” Simao said. “This time the Sharks had seemed to pick up a couple of new players for the final day of play. Nonetheless, we still had to finish the tournament.”
Austin Simao put up 12 points for C-Town and Kekoa Colipano added eight. Kalen Kimura (two), Niko Chow (six), Cameron Largusa (seven), Stevenson Rivera (three) and Bransen Agu (two) rounded out the scoring.
“I would like to thank these kids for their hard work and effort in making our fourth-place finish possible,” Simao said. “They earned every bit of it. I’m really proud of them. The number one most asked question by Honolulu was, ‘Where is C-Town?’ Because it was the nine kids that put the question in their minds with their love for the game of basketball.”
Along the way, C-Town received strong support from the community.
“We would also like to thank RASCO Electric for helping us with the sponsorship of our entry fees,” Simao said. “This has helped in making our trip a little bit more easy on the ‘ohanas who participated. Mahalo nui RASCO Electric.”
• Duane Shimogawa Jr., sports editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 257) or kauaisports@kauaipubco.com.
