LIHU‘E — In the Kapa‘a Warriors’ first game of the season against the Waimea Menehune, the boys in green fought hard through the first three quarters, only to come up short in the fourth. A week later against the rival
LIHU‘E — In the Kapa‘a Warriors’ first game of the season against the Waimea Menehune, the boys in green fought hard through the first three quarters, only to come up short in the fourth. A week later against the rival Kaua‘i Red Raiders, the Warriors found themselves in the same position. But this time, the Warriors came through in the clutch.
The Warriors used a 10-2 run to open the fourth quarter and then held off a late Kaua‘i charge to down the Red Raiders, 54-50, Wednesday night at Kaua‘i High School.
The Warriors’ first win gave the Red Raiders their first loss. Kapa‘a, Kaua‘i and Waimea are all tied at 1-1 after the first round of boys’ KIF action.
After a sloppy game against the Menehune last week, the defending KIF champion Warriors needed to rebound quickly or else face sitting in last place in a tight KIF, Kapa‘a head coach Philip Baclayon said.
“We had to come out of that slump we were in,” Baclayon said. “After that loss we really had to pick ourselves up. The biggest accomplishment was winning the mental game which we did not have in our last game.”
The Red Raiders started the game with a 4-0 lead, but the Warriors charged back quickly behind the hot hand of Willis Batol.
Batol sunk three three-point shots in leading the Warriors on a 13-0 run.
Batol remained silent until the fourth quarter with the Warriors ahead 40-37.
The speedy guard’s long range game didn’t resurface in the quarter, but another weapon emerged — his ability to serve the ball into teammates’ hands no matter where they were on the court.
Batol had two key assists in the final quarter, including a behind the back pass on a two-on-one to a streaking Lance Miyashiro to give the Warriors a 46-39 edge.
“We’re a quick team and that’s something we need to depend on,” Baclayon said. “We have to depend on our quickness because we don’t have too much height.”
The Red Raiders fought back in the final minutes of the game.
Donovan Harrison scored 5 of his 13 points in the final frame, but at the end, the Kapa‘a defense was too quick and the Raiders couldn’t hit the big shots.
“It was a hard fought game between two good teams,” Red Raider head coach Ipo Yoshioka said. “You got to give credit to Kapa‘a. They played hard and made shots when they needed to and we didn’t.”
The Red Raiders were led by Mikal Moranz with 17 points. Moranz and Harrison have been a bright spot early on for the Red Raiders, as the pair have combined for 67 points through Kaua‘i’s first two games.
The Warriors had a balanced scoring effort with three players hitting double digits in points. Miyashiro led the way with 15 points, while Kainoa Colipano added 14 and Batol finished with 12.
The Warriors performance, against a good Red Raider team, left Baclayon much more pleased with his team than after last week’s loss. And with all three teams tied heading into the second round of action, the Warriors appear primed for the upcoming schedule.
“It was a lot better tonight,” Baclayon said. “Hopefully we can pick up where we left off tonight and continue it.”
• Tyson Alger, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or by emailing talger@ thegardenisland.com. Follow him on twitter.com/tysonalger.
