LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i High School junior varsity’s Kailea Sokau-Masulit was one of the more petite players on the hardwood on Monday night.
But the petite player picked up high-point honors with 22 points of the JV Red Raiders’ 33 points in a losing effort where the Kapa‘a JV took a 45-33 win to the locker room of the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls basketball game contested at Kaua‘i High.
Sokau-Masulit’s efforts were bolstered by four-point contributions from Taylor Duran and Naveah Eclipse-Ancheta.
The JV Warrior ladies were led by Kenzie Ka‘aihue-Pao Pao, who tallied 12 points. Her lead was bolstered by 11 points from Trinity Guillen, and nine marks from Aedyn Umalla.
Kapa‘a basketball teams picked up a sweep following the 64-30 win by the Lady Warriors over the short-staffed Red Raiders, who were victimized by the cold bug.
Following a game opening trey, Kaua‘i was limited to its seven-point first quarter in the final two minutes of play after the Lady Warriors recovered from the 0-3 deficit and romped to a 15-7 showing behind a pair of buckets from Taira Samiano, and Denise Alfonso ending with four marks.
The eight-point deficit was something the Red Raiders could not overcome before succumbing to Kapa‘a.
Olivia Malafu, who stumbled with just a half of a charity pair in the opening frame, finished with game-high 23 points, 13 dropping in the first half where the Warriors took a 33-10 lead into the break.
Following Malafu, Alfonso netted 12 points, including a pair of 3-balls, and Norma Tuulangavalu lent eight points toward the win that came on combined efforts from the synchronized team.
Lailah Kalani ignited the crowd when she dropped her first basket in the third quarter en route to getting high point honors for the Red Raiders with nine points, all dropping in the second half. Jadelyn Reynolds who finished the first quarter with four points, added a bucket in the final frame for six points. Jazlyn Corpuz and Hema Naka‘ahiki-Young each pocketed a bucket and a trey for five points each.
Kaua‘i High School Varsity girls next travels to the Clem Gomes Gym on Wednesday night. Because Waimea High School did not field a JV team for the KIF season, the Raiders will tip off against Waimea in a single Varsity contest starting at 6:30 p.m.
Kapa‘a will next host Waimea on Friday at Bernice Hundley Gym to close out the KIF Girls Basketball First Round.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
