LIHU‘E — Through the first half of the KIF girls basketball season, seeing Kaua‘i guard Kristle Henry make jaw-dropping shots has been a regular occurrence. Whether it be an off balance jumper, a fade-away or swooping lay-up, the Red Raider junior has made the gyms of Kaua‘i her own personal playground.
Friday night she outdid herself.
Henry drained a half court three at the buzzer to give the Red Raiders a 20-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, providing a large enough advantage for the Red Raiders to coast by the Kapa‘a Warriors, 46-29 at Kaua‘i High School.
With the Red Raider coaching staff stressing the importance of strong starts, the Raiders, led by Henry, flew from the opening tip. Henry scored 12 or her game high 16 points in the opening quarter, punctuating the end of the opening eight minutes with her half court heave.
“I practice that shot here and there, but not every day,” Henry said. “It was more of a lucky shot. I was aware of how much time was left. I was just happy.”
The added bucket was crucial for the Red Raiders, as the Warriors rebounded and outscored Kaua‘i in two of the next three quarters. The Warriors edged the Red Raiders 10-8 in the second quarter and played an inspiring fourth to the tune of an 11-2 edge. But by that fourth quarter, the Red Raider lead was insurmountable.
“We started pressing and playing man and getting more aggressive on the defensive end and it made our offense flow better for us,” Kapa‘a head coach Willy Aki said of the Warrior fourth.
But it was ultimately Kapa‘a’s inability to sink open shots that doomed the girls in green.
The Warriors shot just over 20 percent from the floor compared to the Red Raiders’ 42 percent.
“The whole season we’ve been missing a lot of open outside shots,” Aki said. “We just got to practice more on it.”
Red Raider head coach Sandi Nadatani-Mendez said her girls knew the Kapa‘a team always fights to the end, that’s why the Red Raider hot start was crucial.
“It’s very important for us to come out quick,” Nadatani-Mendez said. “You saw how bad we were in the fourth quarter. With Kapa‘a you always know they’ll never give up. They’ll play hard until the end.”
This was evident by the aggressive play in the final quarter.
Midway through the fourth, both teams traded crowd pleasers, as Kapa‘a’s Reggie McCabe blocked a Kaua‘i shot, only for Kaua‘i’s Kawehi Louis-Diamond to reject McCabe’s ensuing lay-up attempt. McCabe had two blocks in the quarter and finished the game with a Kapa‘a team high 10 points.
Henry even got in on the aggressive play, as an elbow to the face left her holding an ice pack on a bloody lip following the game.
Ending the first half of the season with a perfect 6-0 KIF record, the Red Raiders have their sights set on the state tournament, Nadatani-Mendez said. But before getting ahead of themselves, the Kaua‘i coach said the Red Raider wahine have plenty to work on, starting with holding onto the ball.
“One thing for us is we need to limit our turnovers,” she said. “Every game we play we’re trying to improve.”
In JV action, the Warriors bested the Red Raiders, 24-17 at Kaua‘i High School.
• Tyson Alger, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or by emailing talger@ thegardenisland.com. Follow him on twitter.com/tysonalger.
