KALAHEO — With 15 ticks on the game clock, Nakoa’s CJ Jenkins swooped in on the baseline from the left Tuesday night during the county’s youth basketball game at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
The Westside’s Ninoy Agama posted right under the basket, but Jenkins went straight, lofting the sphere before the defensive effort could take effect.
Nakoa’s Amanaki Tuulangavalu moved into position to back the play that was not needed as the ball slipped through the hoop and Nakoa took a 25-24 lead and the contest in true championship form.
Throughout the night, Nakoa trailed the Westside, looking at a 13-24 deficit at the end of five frames of play.
But Nakoa was not daunted, and roared back in the sixth and final frame with a dozen points while keeping the Westside scoreless.
The Nakoa victory clinched the eighth- and ninth-grade division title in the county’s youth basketball league, and completed a Nakoa sweep as the Eastside basketball program took the fourth- and fifth-grade and the sixth- and seventh-grade titles.
On the other side of the court, Clyde Vito of the county’s Department of Parks &Recreation presented championship basketballs to the Westside girls, who earned the fourth- and fifth-grade and the eighth- and ninth-grade division titles.
The Kaua‘i Ballers finished by taking the sixth- and seventh-grade titles.
Kate Plyler, coach of the Westside girls basketball teams, said it was exciting to have the two girls’ teams get to first place in the league.
“Between the Girl Scouts and the basketball players, there’s a lot of excitement outside the emergency room,” said Plyler, who is with the Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital and Urgent Care at Po‘ipu. “Westside is going to have two teams playing this weekend when coach Dino Pabre coordinates a tournament for the fourth- and fifth-grade students on Saturday and Sunday starting at 8 a.m. on both days at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.”
Pabre will be coordinating another tournament, this one for the eighth and ninth graders, on June 17, 18, and 19 at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
Finally, to close the month, coach Clarence Sales will coordinate the Kaua‘i Classic basketball tournament from June 23 through 26 at both the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center and the Clem Gomes Gym on the Waimea High School campus.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
