KALAHEO — Kaimani Tecson fired off a game-high 17 points and Kaiea Miguel added 12 points as Team Central held off a tenacious comeback effort by the Hanapepe Bomb Squad, Monday in Division 2 boys basketball at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
Division 2, or boys in the fifth and sixth grade, is the largest of the three divisions hosted by the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation youth basketball league who gets the aid of the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association with officials table and fielding game officials.
Monday night featured two of the Division 2 teams, Team Central taking a 44-29 win off the courts while earlier in the night, Papalina was a 24-13 victor over the Eastside Heat.
Team Central lost little time asserting itself, marking a 12-4 advantage at the opening frame behind Miguel firing eight of his game-total dozen points.
But Hanapepe answered with a 4-2 second period with buckets from Kyle Robinson and Degan Davis while limiting Team Central to a pair from Tecson.
Hanapepe scraped by in the third frame, 8-7 behind four points from Ha‘o Trugillo, finishing the night with six points, and buckets from Tai Ofisa, topping the Bomb Squad’s scoring with 11 points, and Naikoa Simao who finished the night with a pair.
Tecson paced the Team Central scoring with four marks with a bucket from Hunter Yoshioka, his sole score of the night as Team Central took a 21-14 lead into the locker rooms at the half.
Hanapepe was not done, yet, with quick buckets from Ofisa and Trugillo opening the second half to pull the Bomb Squad to within a digit, 20-21 before Team Central answered with four points from Justin Faidley and five points from Tecson, including a long ball from outside the three-point arc.
Team Central picked up on the momentum shift and cruised to the win.
Following Tecson and Miguel’s lead, Team Central got nine points from Faidley, pairs from Yoshioka and Christopher La Millanna and digits from Jaron Ruiz-Acantilado and Braden Simao.
Following Ofisa’s lead, Hanapepe got six points from Trugillo, pairs from Kade Ofisa, Naikoa Simao, Lacin Montemayor and Makoa Vanaman.
Earlier in the evening, Eastside Heat, coached by Joshua Offley, broke a 2-point first half freeze to bucket 11 points in the second half behind six points from Eli Unotoa, all coming in the fifth frame, three from Aiden Offley on a three-ball, and pairs from Kaulu Rittmeister, scoring the first half pair, and Nakela Snyder whose sixth period bucket ignited the crowd.
Trey Taba set the pace for Papalina, balancing his 11 points through four periods followed by Ryan Banasihan ending with seven points, including a fourth period trey. Kyle Bisarra added four points and Makana Tavita added a pair in the second frame for the final math.
The Division 2 boys next take the floor Thursday at a site to be determined with two games starting with Team Lihu‘e meeting the Kamikaze at 6 p.m.
The Hanapepe Bomb Squad, with Elton Montemayor as coach, will take on the Eastside Heat starting at 7 p.m.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
