PUHI — Kauai High School basketball player Caleb Stebbins got a rousing cheer in the final minute of play on Tuesday during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation boys basketball game against Island School played at the Wilcox Gymnasium on the Voyager campus.
With the seconds ticking down, Stebbins finally bucketed his first points of the night, sending the audience and the Red Raider bench into frenzied cheer at the feat that sounded the buzzer on a 72-36 win over Island School.
In contests waged at the Clem Gomes Gym, Kapaa High School split its series, dropping 29-39 to the Waimea junior varsity, and then rebounding to a 64-45 showing over the Menehune varsity.
Daniel Oligo fired off 10 points, including a pair of treys, to lead the Waimea JV win. He was followed by Titus Daligcon adding eight marks. Kanoi Huihui Caberto and Keola Agader each bucketed six points.
Kapaa JV’s King Pitts finished with nine points, and Takazee Thomas peeled off six points to lead the JV Warrior effort.
Warrior Austin Green caught fire and fired off a game-high 19 points, including five three-point bombs to lead the Kapaa win. Guard Reimel Camacho added 17 points that included a seven-for-seven showing at the charity stripe in the third frame.
Waimea’s Mar Ruiz tied Green’s performance with 19 points in the effort that showed a pair of treys in his cluster. Eli Ewing showed eight points, and Vincent Lizzio ended with seven marks, including a third quarter trey.
Over at the Wilcox Gymnasium, health ailments trimmed the Voyager lineup to just six players with everyone but one marking in the 36-72 effort. Garrett Hadley led the Voyager effort with a game-high 18 points, including a trio of long balls. Khylee Greenleaf followed with 11 points.
Reese Jenkins sparked the Kauai win with 14 points, including treys in the second and third frames, and Camren Holt-Ho followed with 12 points in the balanced attack contest where the Red Raider coaching staff maintained a steady coaching banter onto the floor. Laurance Ganir added 11 points, and Barkley Gilman finished with seven marks.
With the victory, Kauai High School boys command the KIF first round that ends with games on Friday.
Kauai will face Kapaa at the Bernice Hundley Gym, and the Voyagers face Waimea at the Clem Gomes Gym.
There will be a JV game at the Bernice Hundley Gym that tips off from 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity game starting 20 minutes following the completion of the JV game. There will be a single contest at the Clem Gomes Gym starting at 6:30 p.m.