LIHU‘E — There was hardly a seat to be found on Saturday at the Kaua‘i High gym when the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation presented its boys basketball games with visiting Kapa‘a High.
The Kaua‘i High School Red Raiders swept its series over the Warriors, the junior varsity Raiders taking a 59-37 win, and the varsity Raiders climbing back to a 65-58 edge.
JV Red Raider Laurence Ganir topped the fireworks for Kaua‘i High JV, firing a pair of treys and netting nine of his game-total 12 points in the second half, when Kaua‘i High blew open the contest with a 34-22 run.
Keanu Perreira-Inouye added 11 points and Christian Vito added 10 points for the JV Red Raiders.
Shayden Mandel peeled off a trey in the second half to tie with teammate Ty Kamoku on 10-point contributions to the JV Warrior effort, with Austin Green finishing with nine points.
In varsity play, Kaua‘i High trailed by a pair, 31-29, at the break. The Red Raiders came back with a strong second half, 37-27 run to outlast the Warriors on free throws at the top end as the Warriors were forced to foul to regain possession of the ball.
Kaua‘i High finished the contest eight for 24 at the penalty stripe in the fourth quarter alone.
The contest opened even with Kapa‘a chasing just a digit, 17-16, in the opening quarter, where senior Mikey Question churned up 10 points toward his game-total 17 points. Questin also peeled off a trey to open the second half, adding to the two-point Warrior lead at the break. The Warrior senior later fouled out with four minutes remaining in the contest.
Tristan Scully used the 3-ball, dropping three in the contest, to build his 11-point contribution, and Reimel Camacho added eight points, including going perfect 6-for-6 at the foul line, before being buzzed out on fouls, for Kapa‘a.
The traditionally high producing Keaka Kauhane was limited to just seven points, and starter Ka‘eo Melandish finished with six points to round out the Warrior scoring leaders.
Isaac Mirey was the top Red Raider scorer with 17 points, including three treys in the opening quarter to help the Red Raiders keep up with the Warriors. He was the sole Red Raider to foul out in the final quarter.
Joshua Rego followed the Red Raider scoring with 16 points, including a third quarter trey and a crowd-pleasing dunk in the third frame. He was also 7-for-9 on the free throw line.
Rego was followed by guard Kalaiakea Esteban finishing with 11 points. Noah Louis, one of seven Red Raider seniors feted on Senior Night, added nine points, including a 1-for-8 showing on the free throw line, all coming in the second half when the Warriors worked to regain control of the ball.
Syrus Delos Reyes, another of the seniors, finished with nine points. Other seniors being honored include Hans Leo Carlos, Hans Burkman, Cade Myer, Charles Moule and Kelson Rapozo.
No scores were available from the Waimea-Island School contests being waged on the same night.
With the win, Kaua‘i High next travels to the Clem Gomes Gym on Tuesday to face Waimea High, while the Warriors host Island School at the Bernice Hundley Gym. The JV games at both sites tip off from 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity contests starting 20 minutes following the JV contests.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
