WAIMEA — The KIF girl’s basketball finale took place Friday night in Waimea with the Menehune hosting the Kapa‘a High School Warriors. Kapa‘a entered the game with a 2-5 record, while the Menehune had a 1-6 record. Waimea would go
WAIMEA — The KIF girl’s basketball finale took place Friday night in Waimea with the Menehune hosting the Kapa‘a High School Warriors. Kapa‘a entered the game with a 2-5 record, while the Menehune had a 1-6 record. Waimea would go on to a 60-45 convincing win and finish tied with the Warriors on its senior night.
These two teams walked away from the season with memorable battles and comebacks, but unfortunately for the Warriors, the final game ended up being all Waimea. Despite falling behind 12-9 after the first quarter, the Menehune were able to come away with an excellent team victory.
Waimea received contributions from multiple players with Nicole Pilacio leading the way with 14 points. Guard Tiana Apilado put forth an excellent effort with 13 points and handled the ball well for Waimea. Senior Paige Connelly had an excellent season for the Menehune, and Friday night’s effort was no different, finishing with 9 points and protecting the paint well.
Kapa‘a could never find its footing on defense with Waimea moving the ball so well and slashing up its zone. Offensively the Warriors were kept in the game by Kekai Gonsalves, who led all scorers with 17 points, and it was her ability to get to the foul line that ended long scoring draughts for Kapa‘a.
Despite losing Connelly, Jessica Soriano (10 points) and other seniors, Waimea has a number of underclassmen returning. That coupled with a solid junior varsity squad should make them a force in the KIF next season and very well could contest for the title.
The Warriors will also have a number of players back including Gonsavles. The ground work these two teams laid out this season paired with some of the epic battles they put together with defending champions Kaua‘i High could foreshadow a tough and tumultuous 2013–14 season.
Both the Warriors and the Menehune finished with 2-6 record on the year, trailing the 8-0 Red Raiders.
In junior varsity action Waimea went on to a very easy 50-21 win over Kapa‘a to finish undefeated on the season.
• Rick Killeen, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or sports@ thegardenisland.com.
