LIHUE — The Kauai High School’s boys basketball team beat Waimea 46-37 at home Tuesday night, keeping its perfect record intact.
“It wasn’t the greatest looking game, but they all worked together as a team,” said Kauai head coach Ipo Yoshioka. “The purpose is one game at a time.”
The Red Raiders will take the court on Tuesday at home against Kapaa High School in an attempt to go 7-0.
“We have that mentality. We’re trying to look for bigger things,” said Kauai junior forward Ke’Ali’i Colipano. “We just got to stay focused.”
Kauai (6-0 overall, 2-0 in second round) got the early lead with eight unanswered points, all of which were scored from the outside.
“You gradually work to try to balance your game, inside then outside,” Yoshioka said. “It’s a combination of knowing when and when not to shoot.”
Colipano said forcing turnovers and getting rebounds helped his team get the win over Waimea.
He finished the game with eight points, six of which were scored during the fourth quarter.
Yoshioka said the possibility of finishing the season is “probably” starting to weigh heavily on his players’ minds, but hopes they don’t get ahead of themselves because the season isn’t over yet.
“We just got to keep them focused on what the task is, what the purpose is, and we’ll keep working hard,” he said.
Waimea (1-5 overall, 0-2 in second round) had a run in the second quarter in which the team scored eight unanswered points.
Although the team found its groove during that run, the team wasn’t able to keep it sustained through the rest of the game.
With the loss, Waimea is now mathematically out of contention in the second round.
“To me, they just wasn’t focused,” said Waimea head coach Chris Acoba. “We want to pick up a win, at least, and build on it for next year to show the underclassmen what it takes to be competitive.”
Acoba said the reason Waimea has struggled this year was lack of preparation on his part.
“I know these kids can do better,” he said. “They got the talent but to bring it out, to try to pull it out of them and play up to their potential … that’s the part I want to get out of them.”
Menehune senior guard Jed Lagoc said he hopes the team can perform better for its last two games. Lagoc scored 10 points in the game.
“We’re going to try to win these two games and play hard,” he said.
Kauai’s game on Tuesday against Kapaa (2-4 overall, 1-1 in second round) starts 20 minutes after the 5:30 p.m. JV game ends.
“(We’ll have to) execute and be team oriented,” Yoshioka said about the upcoming game. “If we can stay focused on that, then we’ll be OK.”
Waimea will play at Kapaa on Friday.
Junior varsity:
Kauai’s junior varsity squad defeated Waimea 59-50.
Kauai’s Bryce Johnson-McCormack and Waimea’s Reymund Mendoza each scored 17 points.
