KAPAA — Waimea High School girls basketball found its footing, and coupled with a quick and tenacious defense, settled the girls basketball playoff for the Kauai Interscholastic Federation Round 2 crown.
Playing before a good-sized crowd that braved the weather at the Bernice Hundley Gym, the Lady Menehunes trooped behind the game-high 21 points put up by Alyssa Gummerus to a 53-25 victory.
The win settled Round 2 in favor of the Menehune. Additionally, because Waimea claimed the first round, the Central Pacific Bank KIF title went to the Westside with the Menehune.
On the defensive side of the ball, Waimea’s pressure restricted the normally double-digit scoring guard Taira Samiano to just six points, four coming in the final frame where the Warrior senior found a lane from outside the three-point mark.
Waimea’s Cyani Bagaoisan-Rita found five marks, and guard Hailey Mata found four points to lead the Lady Menehune to an 11-7 first quarter, before the Waimea machine blew open the contest behind 16-9, 13-2, and 13-10 frames.
Bagaoisan-Rita finished with 10 points followed by Mata pouring in eight points. MJ Angala ended with five points, and Steph Annie Companero added four points.
Kapaa’s effort went beyond the scorebook as Alena Abell demonstrated strong through the 32 game minutes, but came up empty on the pages.
Samiano was held to just six points, and in her stead, Tyra Carvalho walked off with nine points.
Senior Trinity Guillen had the sole third quarter Kapaa score en route to her game-total four marks. Raine Hurd, Trinity Pananganan and Taisa Tupou each bucketed a pair.
With the win, Waimea earns eligibility to the 2025 Pacific Century Fund Team Aloha Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II Girls Basketball State Championships that will play Feb. 5- 8 on Oahu.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.