WAIMEA — The second and third quarters were when the Kaua‘i Red Raiders did their most damage, outscoring the Waimea Menehune 27-14 over those two periods on their way to a 52-38 victory at Waimea High School, Saturday night. On
WAIMEA — The second and third quarters were when the Kaua‘i Red Raiders did their most damage, outscoring the Waimea Menehune 27-14 over those two periods on their way to a 52-38 victory at Waimea High School, Saturday night.
On the Eastside, the Kapa‘a Warriors locked up the Round 2 Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation victory with a 53-28 win over the Island School Voyagers at Kapa‘a High School.
With Kaua‘i having won Round 1, the Raiders and Warriors will meet up in the postseason to determine the 2010 KIF boys basketball champion.
Back in Waimea, Austin Simao and Davone Florence each scored 14 points for the Raiders, while Cody Morden and Bryan Andres each chipped in five.
Cameron Largusa and Pono Cummings had three points apiece, while Alden Ho and Joe Duronslet each had two.
Malcolm Carter was the top scorer for the Menehune with 10 points, while VJ Carineo added eight and Winston Gee and Bransen Agu each scored six.
Paul Oligo had four, Kody Saio three and Micah Rita rounded out the total with one.
Trailing 10-7 after the first quarter, the Raiders clamped down on defense over the next two periods, forcing turnovers thanks to numerous steals from Morden and others.
Florence scored seven in the second quarter, including a fall-away 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to put Kaua‘i up 24-17 for its biggest lead to that point.
The Raiders came out hot to start the third and again forced turnovers leading to easy buckets. They went on a 10-2 run, capped by a Duronslet layup off a Florence feed.
The Menehune got a banked 3-pointer from Oligo and a layup from Carter to make it a 10-point game and headed into the fourth quarter trailing 34-24.
Morden continued his defensive pressure, tracking down loose balls and errant passes. Florence took on the role of playmaker, first hitting Largusa with a behind-the-back pass for a bucket, then going between the legs to feed Simao for a deuce.
Those scores completed a 10-1 Kaua‘i run that put Waimea down 44-25.
Some of the Menehune bench got into the action late in the game and played very effectively, highlighted by six late points from Winston Gee.
He got on the board with one free throw, then twin brother Princeton dove to the floor for a loose ball, fed Winston who scored the layup and drew the foul.
After knocking down the free throw, Winston added to his total with an offensive rebound and score, creating the final 52-38 tally.
In Kapa‘a, Duke Pauli was the game’s top scorer with 17 points for the Warriors, followed by 12 from Kekoa Colipano.
Makana Ledesma and Brennan Wortman each led Island School with six points.
In the JV action that preceded varsity, Waimea improved to 7-0 with a 60-40 win over Kaua‘i.
Kaili Lagundino continued his high-scoring season with 24 points to lead the Menehune. Brandon Palacio had 12 and Travis Soares added 10.
Mikal Moranz led Kaua‘i with 16 points and Donovan Harrison had 14.
The Menehune JV have already locked up the season championship by going undefeated to this point.
The boys have one more game in the regular season, with Kapa‘a hosting Waimea Wednesday night at Kapa‘a High School. JV will get underway at 5:30 p.m., followed by varsity.
Kaua‘i will finish up at home by hosting Island School in a varsity only evening, Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
The championship playoff game between Kaua‘i and Kapa‘a will take place between Feb. 20-23.
