KAPA‘A — It seems the boys may have been playing their own version of “anything you can do, I can do better.” Well, maybe not better, but just four days after the Kapa‘a Lady Warriors won the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation
KAPA‘A — It seems the boys may have been playing their own version of “anything you can do, I can do better.”
Well, maybe not better, but just four days after the Kapa‘a Lady Warriors won the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation championship on a buzzer-beater over the Raider Wahine, the Kapa‘a boys all but clinched the second-round title with a double-overtime win over the Red Raiders, 51-50, Friday night at the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapa‘a.
Willis Batol went the length of the floor and scored on a layup with just 10 seconds to go that proved to be the game-winner, giving Kapa‘a the one-point lead.
Kaua‘i called a timeout with 7.6 seconds to play, but threw the ball away while trying to advance up the left sideline. Kapa‘a ran out the final 2.8 seconds to grab the thrilling win that could very well put it into the season’s championship game.
With the win, Kapa‘a has now won eight straight and moves to 4-0 in the second round. That mark gives it a two-game lead with just two games to play. If the Warriors win either of their final two games against Waimea or Island School, they clinch the round.
They can also clinch if Kaua‘i and Waimea fail to win each of their remaining games.
After leading by as many as nine midway through the third quarter, Kapa‘a watched Kaua‘i’s Donavan Harrison knock down a 3-pointer to cap a 14-3 Raider run early in the fourth, giving them a 37-35 lead.
The teams traded baskets the rest of the way until Kaua‘i found itself down 40-39 with 8.7 seconds left in regulation.
After a timeout, Kaua‘i guard Bryan Andres drove baseline, went up and got fouled with 5.3 seconds showing. He knocked down the first to tie things up, but missed the second to give Kapa‘a one last heave. Batol fired short of midcourt, but his prayer went unanswered.
Both teams slowed the pace in the first extra session, with Daniel Reis scoring on a fast-break layup to give the Warriors a 44-42 lead, but Andres responded with a pull-up jumper from the foul line with 31 seconds to play, evening things up, once again.
Kapa‘a’s Spam Lindsey got into the paint and went up after a spin move, but couldn’t connect, sending the game to a second extra four-minute session.
The Raiders’ Joe Duronslet made a pair of free throws for a 46-44 lead, but Warriors guard Bradley Coloma knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the arc for a 47-46 lead with 1:04 to play.
Moving quickly, Andres put Kaua‘i back up on a driving layup with 50 seconds remaining for a 48-47 lead.
Dane Bautista made 1-of-2 at the line for a two-point lead with 30.2 seconds left, but Batol knotted things up by nailing his pair at the charity stripe with 17.9 seconds to play.
On the ensuing inbounds, Batol, playing tight defense on Andres, committed a quick foul to send him to the line. Andres missed on the first, but connected on the second for a 50-49 lead with 15.7 showing on the scoreboard, before Batol came back the other way and laid in the game-winner.
Batol led the Warriors with 14 points on the night, while Kainoa Colipano was big on the boards in addition to his nine points.
Keane Agoot scored eight, Lindsey had seven and Reis scored six. Coloma had five points and Jundel Sagucio rounded out the scoring with two.
Duronslet had a game-high 17 points for the Raiders. Andres scored 12, Harrison had eight and Alden Ho finished with seven points.
Anthony Guerrero and Bautista had three and one point, respectively.
Both teams put big runs together on the night, Kapa‘a using an early 10-0 run to take a 16-9 lead in the second quarter. Kaua‘i then had an 11-3 run and the 14-3 run later for the lead early in the fourth.
In the evening’s junior varsity game, Kapa‘a was a 57-51 winner over the Kaua‘i JV, behind 14 points from Kevin Esteban and 10 from James Stevens.
Trey Aguano led Kaua‘i with 17 points, while Mikal Moranz had 14.
Results from the Waimea Menehune-Island School Voyagers varsity game was unavailable as of press time.
The boys take the court again Tuesday, when Waimea will host Kapa‘a at the Clem Gomes Gym, with JV tipping at 5:30 p.m., followed by varsity.
Kaua‘i will host Island School in a varsity-only contest at 7 p.m.
