KAPA’A — Kapaa High School’s women’s basketball team — both varsity and junior varsity teams — kicked off the second round of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation with a victory Monday night to ring in the new year at Bernice Handley’s Gym .
Playing in front of hundreds of fans, the JV Warriors escaped a strong second-half comeback by the JV Red Raiders, 24-22. The varsity Lady Warriors overwhelmed his team at Kauai High 72–27 after limiting the Red Raiders to just two buckets in his first 14 minutes of the 16th minute half.
The JV Warriors were limited to just single-digit scoring in the fourth quarter, but Trinity Gillen put in four of his eight marks to hold the 8-5 bulge at the half. Treys from Ardine Umala and Kane Hurd in the third frame pushed Kapaa to 7 points as the Red Raiders managed to get just 4 marks out of the Kaileaso Kauma slit.
The JV Raiders fought back in the fourth frame, beating Kapaa 13-8, five points ahead of Sokau Masrit and four ahead of Kamaile Manibog. , 24-22.
A last-minute attempt by JV Raiders ended in failure.
Kenzie Ka’aihue Paopao topped the win for the JV Warriors with 6 points, with Umalla and Hurd finishing with 5 points each, with each Warrior bucketing a tray.
Sokau-Masulitt finished with a game-high 13 points on a Raiders effort followed by Manibog adding 5 points.
In the national team game, Lady Warrior Dennis Alfonso scored a game-high 19 points to give Kapaa the lead in a 72-27 win over the Red Raiders. Olivia Malaf came off the bench and added 11 points to the win. Kapaa set the pace with his 19-2 victory over Kauai in his opening frame.
Kyra Hopton led the long-range shooting with three trays for an 11-point contribution. Guard Tyra Samiano added his two trays and Jaidana Nakamura set the bench up with a three-ball in the fourth quarter. Overall, Kapaa stripped his eight buckets off the outside of his mark for his three points, but Kauai has only managed to drop two in many attempts.
Hema Naka’ahiki-Young dropped one of the trays for a 13-point game total, while Cairee Quinones dropped a three-ball for Kauai High in the second quarter. Ciarala Tolentino went 4-3 with 3 points from Charity Stripe, with Joliena Kumrat, Jaydelyn Reynolds and Kadi Parvrav each scoring a pair.
Kauai High School will host Waimea High School in one game starting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
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Dennis Fujimotostaff writers can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.