KAPA‘A — Waimea High School girls basketball was chasing two points, 11-9, following one quarter of play, Friday night during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls basketball game at the Bernice Hundley Gym.
But, in the second quarter, the Lady Warriors sent in their distance bombers, Kyla Hopton and Annie Nizo. From that point, Kapa‘a out-distanced the Menehune to a 61-32 victory before an audience that included the boys basketball team that took a victory against Kaua‘i High School, Thursday night.
Hopton launched a trey, Nizo popped a long ball, and the pair got help from Olivia Malafu who tucked away nine points, and Denise Alfonso who chipped in a pair of buckets to widen the 2-point gap to a 34-22 reading at the break.
Katelyn Constantino answered for Waimea with a 3-ball in the second, but overall, the Menehune had just a trio of treys throughout while the Lady Warriors bucketed five bombs from outside the 3-point arc.
Alfonso finished with high-point honors for the Warriors with 16 points after dropping 12 points in the second half, and Malafu cleaned up the inside with 13 points before being replaced on the floor with the bench.
Nizo and Hopton each contributed eight points, including two treys apiece. Norma Tuulangavalu added six points.
The Menehune used nine of their 10 team members to achieve its scoring with Constantino leading the charge on seven points, including the 3-ball. All of her marks came in the first half.
Ari Acosta matched up against Malafu, but could only generate six points for Waimea, all her scores coming in the first half. Hailey Mata finished with five points, including the second of three Menehune treys, and Mary Joy Angala was limited to her trey in the third quarter.
Kapa‘a next hosts Kaua‘i High School, Monday at the Bernice Hundley Gym. The Junior Varsity contest tips off at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity girls starting 20 minutes following the JV game.
