KAPAA — A late-game scoring surge pushed the Kauai High School boys basketball team to a 51-39 win over the Kapaa High School Warriors on Tuesday night before a nearly-full Bernice Hundley Gym at the Kauai Interscholastic Federation boys basketball game.
“You have to say something about the crowd,” said John Kaneholani, food preparer for Kapaa and former Kapaa varsity head coach. “This is the largest we’ve had all season.”
The audience was not disappointed as Kapaa took an early 4-0 lead in the first three minutes of play.
Kauai’s Christian Manera, finishing as leading scorer in the game at 14 points, pulled the Raiders into the fray with a long ball followed by Shaun Paglinawan driving the inside for a bucket.
From there, Kapaa stayed close until the final minutes when the Red Raiders opened up the game behind CJ Cromartie banking off a long ball and a bucket through traffic. Cromartie finished the night with 11 points.
“We just stuck to our game plan,” said Kapaa coach Kamahala Ka‘uhane. “We had missed opportunities out there like not making our free throws. Kauai basketball is tenacious, and we need to get better at the finish. We need to play our brand of basketball and hit the shots when we need to.”
Following the opening lead, Kapaa pulled Kauai out of its brand of run and gun, slowing the game and holding on until the fourth quarter Raider surge.
“Kapaa is a good team,” said Kauai coach Ipo Yoshioka. “They’re well-coached and have good kids.”
Kauai collected its scoring from six bombs from outside the three-point arc, including one from Gunnar Burkman in the opening frame. Kapaa was held to four, including a pair from Kurtis Fujito-Pascua, who finished with eight points, and one from Noah Rall who ended the night with eight points. Nathan Gardner who finished with three points.
Justin Faidly put in seven points for Kapaa with Some Fonua getting four marks in the third frame. Jhencen Cummings and Moses Ho each put away three points in the first half.
Earlier in the evening, Kauai junior varsity’s Keane Tibon, Jaron Ruiz-Acantilado and Pono Carvalho netted seven points apiec. Xaerys Dela Cruz scored six points and Miles Davis put away six points to lead the Raider JV to a 46-33 win over the Kapaa JV who got 10 points from Waika Rogers and seven from Alakai Gonsalves.
Kauai travels to the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea on Friday when the JV game starts at 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity game going off about 20 minutes following the completion of the JV match. Kapaa will host Waimea at its Senior Night on Jan. 30 at the Bernice Hundley Gym.
