KAPA‘A — The audience went wild with cheer after Kapa‘a’s Jada Ines threaded traffic and launched the ball under pressure in the final quarter, Wednesday at the Bernice Hundley Gym.
Ines represented the every one plays participation by the Lady Warriors, and the Red Raiders, as the final buzzer sounded on a 58-46 Kaua‘i High School victory during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls basketball games contested at the Bernice Hundley Gym located on the Kapa‘a High School campus.
Earlier in the evening, Kaua‘i High School Junior Varsity player Kate-Lynn Colipano fired off 20 points, including a pair from outside the three-point mark, to lead the JV Red Raiders to a 58-10 win over the Kapa‘a JV team.
Fighting back from a 37-5 halftime deficit, Kapa‘a JV’s Taeani Largusa bucketed a field goal in the third quarter to lead the JV Lady Warriors with a game-total six points. Largusa netted four points, and Kolotita Fonua added a digit to give the Kapa‘a JV team its five first-half points. Lilinoe Makepa-Andaya kicked in three second-half marks to round out the Warriors’ JV scoring.
Following Colipano’s game-high 20 points, Cairee Quinones tucked away 11 points, including a three-ball, and Chayley Jacobs added 10 points, including a pair of treys to the game where Kaua‘i JV scored on eight bombs launched outside the three-point arc.
The three-ball helped the varsity Red Raiders in its contest against the Lady Warriors when Hema Naka‘ahiki-Young pushed Kaua‘i ahead of Kapa‘a on a trey with three minutes showing in the first frame.
From there, the Raiders used the trey to stay ahead of the Warriors as well as pull to a 14-7 bulge following the opening stanza.
Despite turnovers and missed opportunities on both sides of the ball, the Red Raiders surged to its 12-point victory behind 13 points from Denise Alfonso who was on the receiving end of heavy hammering from the Warrior defense.
Naka‘ahiki-Young, earning her keep in battles with Kapa‘a’s Olivia Malafu for rebounds, added nine points to the Kaua‘i win. Jaley Medeiros kicked in eight points, including fully capitalizing on a foul outside the three-point mark in the final period.
Kapa‘a, opening with a bucket from Hailey Overmyer, had its brightest moment in the second frame when the Warriors woke up its strongest shooter, Hinali‘i Grance who tickled the twine with a pair from the outside. En route to its 16-13 shooting over Kaua‘i, Norma Tuulangavalau, sharing tall-person chores with Malafu, peeled off four points along with Malafu.
Grance finished the night with 13 points, including three bombs from the outside. Malafu, fighting on the inside, topped the Kapa‘a scoring with 17 points. Tuulangavalau and Overmyer each netted five points, Overmyer nailing a three-ball in the second half before succumbing to an injury that pulled her off the floor.
With its second consecutive victory in as many outings, the Kaua‘i varsity squad takes a break while Kapa‘a prepares to host Waimea, Monday at the Bernice Hundley Gym. The JV game between Kapa‘a and Kaua‘i will tip off starting at 5:30 p.m. followed 20 minutes after the completion of the JV contest by the varsity Waimea and Kapa‘a squads tipping off.
