LIHU‘E — Waimea’s Cheyanne Duarte lit a 3 o’clock bomb Monday night to keep the Menehune alive, forcing a playoff for the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls basketball title at 7 p.m. today at the Kaua‘i High School gym. Waimea came
LIHU‘E — Waimea’s Cheyanne Duarte lit a 3 o’clock bomb Monday night to keep the Menehune alive, forcing a playoff for the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls basketball title at 7 p.m. today at the Kaua‘i High School gym.
Waimea came from behind as Mariyah Oliver put the cap on a 35-33 win to give the Menehune Wahine the KIF Round 2 title.
Kaua‘i, which captured the Round 1 title, now faces a re-match for the KIF title, the game necessary because several members of the Red Raider team are leaving for the state soccer championships Wednesday.
Chasing a 26-12 half-time deficit, the Menehune clawed back, its defense holding Kaua‘i High School to just seven second-half points while bucketing 23 points before a large, vocal audience Monday night at the Raiderdome.
Duarte, who topped the Waimea scoring with 11 points, dropped her third three-ball with 3:24 remaining in the contest, the ball igniting the Waimea blue-shirted fans into thunderous cheers as the Menehune took the lead for the first time, 33-31.
But with time left for Kaua‘i to erase the deficit, Kaua‘i guard Kristle Henry could only answer with one field goal, her only one in the second half, before the buzzer sounded on the Menehune win.
The Red Raiders got off to an early start, scoring a balanced 13 points in the first and second period, Henry leading the charge with 14 of her game-high 16 points.
Bristy Agu showed six points in the scorebooks, but her value came as she joined center Kawehi Louis-Diamond in securing boards and feeding off to Henry for the buckets.
Casey Anacleto was limited to just five first-quarter points, including a three-ball, the only one Kaua‘i could successfully launch as the quarter ended on a 13-6 Kaua‘i lead.
Louis-Diamond netted her game-total three points, a plus-one affair, in the second quarter when Henry lit the boards with eight points for the 26-12 lead at the half.
But the Menehune had other plans for the second half when Oliver and Paige Connelly dominated the inside, constricting the Kaua‘i shooters while snaring rebounds in the paint.
Oliver, taking the feed from Duarte with a minute left in the game, dropped two of her game-total eight points to ice the victory after Kaua‘i could only answer with a Henry bucket with 10 ticks remaining.
Connelly, while limited to just a third-quarter pair in the scorebooks, was ferocious on defense, keeping Henry tangled while the two Menehune low posts limited the Raiders to just single attempts at shots.
Duarte’s tandem shooting guard, Vakeesha Lagazo, was held to just seven second-half points, and Junior Varsity upgrade Nicole Palacio took the floor for four points.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
