LIHUE — With just one game remaining in the Kauai Interscholastic Federation girls basketball first round, Waimea High School clinched Round 1 honors following a 59-20 victory over Kapaa High School at the Clem Gomes Gym on Monday.
Over at the Wilcox Gymnasium on the Island School campus, the Lady Voyagers turned to the three-ball to outdistance Kauai High School, 50-26, before a crowd pared down by the day before New Year’s Eve.
The Lady Menehune win preserves Waimea’s undefeated win streak and came behind balanced scoring from the team. Laakea Malama and guard Haley Mata each finished with nine points apiece followed by Katelyn Constantino and MJ Angala each dropping eight points. Cyani Bagaoisan-Rita ended with seven marks.
Island School, slipping to a two-loss record in the round following a 38-47 to Kapaa on Friday, rolled out the distance balls to outdistance the Lady Red Raiders seven treys to Kauai’s three.
Kailea Sokau-Masulit ignited the Island School bombs with six from beyond the three-point arc, three dropping in the opening stanza when Kauai took a 4-3 advantage. The Voyagers responded when Sokau-Masulit dropped a trio of treys to end the frame with a 13-4 advantage.
The Raiders attempted to erase the deficit with a pair of three-balls in the second quarter, one by Kamaile Manibog, and the other by Jazlyn Corpuz. But Island School stayed in the chase with Sokau-Masulit adding a trey boost to end the half with a six-point lead.
Island School turned on the turbochargers in the third frame with a 19-2 run, and nursed the lead with a 12-11 fourth quarter.
Sokau-Masulit topped all scorers with 18 points followed by Breyanna Alfonso finishing with 12 points, including a third quarter three-ball. Tall post Halia Vicoy Fuimaono ended with 16 points, 11 marks dropping in the second half.
Anaiah Mendez and Manibog topped the Red Raider scoring with seven points each followed by Corpuz with five points.
Girls basketball closes Round 1 on Friday when Kapaa hosts Kauai at the Bernice Hundley Gym, and Waimea hosts Island School at the Clem Gomes Gym.
Kapaa and Kauai will host a Junior Varsity match with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff, followed by the varsity contest starting 20 minutes following the JV game. Waimea and Island School will play a single contest starting at 6:30 p.m.
Source: The Garden Island