Lagundino leads Kalepa to sweep

PUHI — Kaili Lagundino finished with a game-high 16 points to lead Kalepa to a 48-35 win over Hanakila in the 14 and Under division, Wednesday night at Island School.

That game opened the 2009 Merv Lopes Kaua‘i Hoops Classic and Lagundino drove through the paint for the majority of his game total. He mixed it up with a shot from the outside in the third quarter when he launched the ball from outside the three-point arc.

Lagundino picked up the pace in the Kalepa 16s and finished with 11 points to lead the Hanama‘ulu-based team to a sweep on the opening night of the four-day basketball tournament. The Kalepa 16s edged out the G-Unit, 36-34.

Trey Aguano, trying to get in a last-second layup at the halftime buzzer, came up empty on that roll, but redeemed himself with five bombs from three-point land for 15 points for the Kalepa Hillsiders 14s.

Hanakila, suffering one of its rare losses, had the early lead, 6-5 in the first quarter, working on ball control and measured shots. But Kalepa, equipped with shooters all around, went to the outside and up the middle to outgun the Kilauea blackshirts 15-11 in the second quarter.

From there, Kalepa never looked back.

James Paik and Kala Kauhane each finished with 11 points to lead Hanakila, Paik nailing three treys in his total. Marlon Cudiamat, the tall man coming up the middle, was held to seven points and Kelii Koa Baclayon, returning to the floor following an injury, finished with five points, still nursing his injury during play.

Joining Lagundino in the Kalepa Hillsiders 16s’ scoring, Jimar Domingo added 10 points and Kameron Perez finished with nine points.

Willis Batol topped the G-Unit scoring with a game-high 14 points in the match that see-sawed throughout the night, each team working to find an advantage over each other. Winston Gee added 10 points in the effort.