WAIMEA — The Waimea Menehune posted a 15-for-18 showing at the charity stripe to pull off a 39-35 win over the Kapaa Warriors Saturday in a defensive slugfest in Kauai Interscholastic Federation boys varsity basketball at the Clem Gomes Gym.
“The boys played good defense,” said Waimea coach Dino Pabre. “We only had nine turnovers in the game, and we were fortunate to have possession at the end. The boys played well and kept Kapaa away from the bonus. They never got to the free-throw line.”
The Warriors made the trip to the charity line just once in the first half, when Michael Encinas dropped the first of two shots.
With just seconds remaining in the game and Waimea protecting a slim lead, David Sabo Jr.’s charity pair pulled out the four-point margin that could have been bettered when he was fouled in the paint. To that point, Sabo Jr. was five-for-five at the free throw line.
“I told him to sink it,” Pabre said. “But he missed both of them.”
Kapaa capitalized on the second miss, but a turnover to Waimea ran out the clock.
“Turnovers continue to hurt us,” said Kapaa coach Kamahalo Ka‘uhane. “Waimea came to play hard, and the boys knew that. They played hard on the inside and just kept us out.”
Sabo topped the Waimea scoring with 11 points, including a pair of long balls. Joel Soriano had eight points, including two-for-two at the charity stripe. Taylon Yadao dropped seven points, including a trey, and DJ Pabre finished with nine points, being held to just one basket. Dylan Balaan, key on the defensive efforts, finished with two points.
“The rest of the games are all going to be tougher,” Pabre said. “We got a game to rest before we meet Kauai Friday.”
Justin Faidly led the Kapaa effort with eight points, including a pair of treys, one dropping in the fourth quarter that pulled the Warriors to within a point of the Menehune. Nathan Gardner came off the bench to drain back-to-back three-balls in the third quarter for his six points. Jhencen Cummings and Hiro Raza each netted four points, and Kurtis Fujito-Pascua and Rafael Roslin each dropped the long ball for three points apiece.
Earlier in the evening, Kapaa junior varsity’s Waika Rogers dropped 18 points and Akela Nu‘uhiwa-Gonda added 14 points to lead the JV Warriors to a 46-41 edge over Waimea, which got 21 points from Eilon Jamaralan and 12 points from Wade Pimsaguan, all of Pimsaguan’s points coming from three-balls.
Kapaa next hosts Kauai High School on Tuesday at the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapaa, with the junior varsity game tipping off at 5:30 p.m. This is a change from the Wednesday-Saturday schedule because the girls basketball season ended with the Kauai girls celebrating a 55-52 win.
