WAIMEA — Waimea High School’s girls basketball team held off a late rally in the final quarter to defeat Kapaa 51-44 at home Tuesday night. The win gave the Menehune redemption after having lost at Kapaa the night before in
WAIMEA — Waimea High School’s girls basketball team held off a late rally in the final quarter to defeat Kapaa 51-44 at home Tuesday night.
The win gave the Menehune redemption after having lost at Kapaa the night before in a first round playoff game.
“After last night, we wanted to win really bad,” Waimea’s Caitlyn Owen said about getting revenge on the team that beat them 24 hours before. “Tonight we were just on fire. We were going after everything.”
Waimea’s offense charged out from opening tipoff, starting the game on 19-3 run, and kept a substantial lead all the way through the first half.
Owen led the way, scoring 14 of her 18 points during the first two quarters.
Waimea head coach Brandon Moises said Owen was awarded the game ball after the game. He said it was the first game ball the school’s girls basketball program has ever awarded a player.
“After showing up from last night’s game, willing to take all the bumps and bruises and perform, she (earned) the game ball,” Moises said. “She wanted to make that moment something to embrace.”
Waimea’s press defense gave Kapaa fits early on and resulted in a number of turnovers which gave the team its opportunity for an early lead during the second round’s opening game.
“The whole first half was off. We weren’t playing the game we played last night,” said Kapaa’s Ariel Cummings. “It was frustrating. We knew we shouldn’t have played like that.”
Moises said having to play again on short notice actually helped because his team didn’t have time to sulk over the previous night’s loss.
“Having this short of a turnaround made a difference,” he said. “We didn’t have time to drown in our sorrow.”
Kapaa head coach William Aki said playing on the road this time was a factor.
“It goes for all three teams. When they go into someone else’s building, it’s a different story.” he said. “They don’t play as good as they do at home.
“Too much missed shot and too much throw aways tonight,” he added. “That’s what cost us.”
Kapaa did slow down Waimea’s offense in the second half and cut the lead down to one during the fourth quarter.
Uinise Paua powered the Warriors’ offense inside and finished the night as Kapaa’s leading scorer with 16 points.
“Jesus helped me today,” she said.
Aki said his team’s poise grew as the second half progressed.
“We got more confidence trying to attack the basket,” he said. “As long as we got close at the end of the third quarter, we had our chances in the fourth.”
While Kapaa did get close, turnovers and fouls down the stretch undid the team’s chances of completing a comeback.
“Because we won last night, we thought it would have been easier,” Cummings said. “They came hard. We weren’t expecting that hard.”
She finished the game with nine points.
Kapaa is scheduled to play on Friday at Kauai High School.
Waimea will play next on Tuesday, also at Kauai.
“Hats off to Kapaa because they wouldn’t let us have the game,” Moises said. “Me and Coach Aki both agree. This year, nothing will come easy.”
On both occasions, the junior varsity games will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity teams will play 20 minutes following the end of the JV games.
Junior varsity:
Kapaa’s junior varsity team defeated Waimea 51-31.
Kapaa’s Paea Tafea was the game’s leading scorer with 22 points.
Waimea’s Jasmine Santella lead her team in scoring with nine points.
