LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i High School took a 47-41 edge over Waimea High School, and Island School upset Kapa‘a High School, 53-49, during Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation boys basketball games at Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea andWilcox Gymnasium on the Island School campus.
After Kaua‘i held an 11-8 lead following the first eight minutes of play, Waimea roared back in the second quarter to take a 22-19 lead at the break. The Red Raiders adjusted and came back in the second half with a 28-point shooting performance to stay ahead of the Menehune 47-41 at the final buzzer.
Joshua Rego finished with a game-high 20 points, including a trio of 3-balls, to lead the Kaua‘i victory, according to ScoringLive.com. Rego’s efforts were bolstered by Reese Jenkins and Kalaikea Esteban each tucking away six points.
Waimea was led by Lindcey Constantino firing off a dozen marks with Mykah Brun and Jeydon Moises each lending nine points in the effort.
On the Wilcox Gymnasium floor, a pivotal technical foul assessed against Kapa‘a nailed the coffin for the team that earlier had clinched the KIF first round following a barn burner contest at home.
Leading 49-47 with 17 seconds showing on the game clock, the Warriors picked up the technical as Island School’s Matthew Dobashi snaked the paint looking for a bucket.
Voyager Lucas Summerhayes, earlier responsible for triggering the Voyager fans when he pulled Island School into the fray with a 3-ball in the third quarter, dropped the technical pair to knot the contest. Summerhayes was followed by Dobashi shooting the foul pair and giving possession to the Voyagers.
Relying on the long ball to stay in the chase, Island School went outside the 3-point arc for nine bombs, while Kapa‘a launched nine treys, including four from Tristen Scully, who finished the contest with 12 points.
Summerhayes finished the night with a game-high 22 points, including four treys. He was followed by Dobashi, who ended with 15 points, including four treys for Island School. Aiden Alvarez who was the paint person, added 11 points.
Warrior guard Keaka Kauhane launched a pair of three-balls toward his game-total 17 points to lead the effort. He was followed by Scully and Austin Green each bucketing 12 points, including Green dropping two 3-pointers.
Earlier in the evening, the Kapa‘a junior varsity locked up a 48-26 win over the Voyagers behind 10 points from CeeJay Jenkins and eight points from Koda Schumach, including a pair of 3-balls.
Piko Vaughn fired off a game-high 13 points, including a trio of treys, to lead the Island School JV effort. Jonathan Primeaux added eight points.
According to Kapa‘a High School Athletic Director Greg Gonsalves, the KIF second round will start on Jan. 23 after the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association announced the boys tournament will be moved back a week to Feb. 22 through 24.
Kapa‘a will next face Kaua‘i High School at the Kaua‘i High School gymnasium on Jan. 23. Waimea will face Island School at the Wilcox Gymnasium on the same date. The JV games at both sites will start at 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity contests.
