KAPA‘A — Kapa‘a High School girls basketball player Olivia Malafu finished with 19 points in a Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls basketball game at the Bernice Hundley Gym, which was heavily decorated for the Lady Warriors final home game on Wednesday.
Malafu’s performance through four quarters of play, paced Kapa‘a to its 55-37 win over Waimea High School, who was held scoreless for the first 10 minutes of play.
Earlier in the evening, the Waimea Junior Varsity girls nailed a 58-36 victory over the Lady Warriors behind 20 points from La‘akea Kauwe, who bombed a pair from outside the 3-point arc in her contribution.
Wailana Tanigawa-Christian added 16 points to the win.
Aedyn Umalla topped the JV Kapa‘a effort with 12 points, all marks coming from four 3-balls. Darla Squired added 10 points, and Ginger Nunes finished with seven points, including a pair of treys.
On the varsity floor, Kapa‘a turned on the heat from the opening tip-off, surging to an 18-0 first quarter while putting a lid on the bucket for Waimea, who, for the first time in the 12-game league season, was held scoreless in a frame.
Kapa‘a capitalized on that momentum throughout the four quarters, utilizing its bench for ample playing time.
Joining Malafu in scoring, the Warriors used just a trio of treys in the win. Both Skylyn Fagarang and Taira Samiano finished with 12-point performances that included Fagarang nailing a long distance bomb in the fourth quarter to celebrate the victory. Samiano made an opening statement in the first quarter by dropping a long-distance pair.
Hailey Mata took the lead for Waimea, finishing with four of Waimea’s five treys to stay close. Mata topped the Menehune scoring with 14 points, followed by Ari Acosta ending with 10 points in the effort. Stephanie Companero fired the fifth Menehune trey in the second period where the Lady Menehune finally found a way to open up the bucket.
With the win, Kapa‘a completes a 12-0 perfect season and will advance to the 2024 Heide &Cook Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Division II girls basketball championships, where it will defend its Division II state title earned in 2023.
Those games will play on O‘ahu from Feb. 6-9.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
