I love it! Basketball season is finally here! As football season comes to a close, it’s now time to head indoors to the hardwood for some basketball action, Lahainaluna style. For some of these players, they must realize they need to enjoy it now while they can. Because when the football season finally ends, they’ll have to make room for some of the football players on the team. That means you can still get cut. That is the reality of high school basketball.
Tonight was the debut of the JV boys against rival Baldwin . It was essentially a rematch of the Lahaina vs. Waikapu Menehune basketball teams from last year. That being said, Baldwin will be strong in the next 4 years as the Waikapu team won it all last year with a Lahaina style of pick-up ball – lot of athletic Filipinos, creating havoc on defense and fast breaking. Totally antithetic to Baldwin ’s methodical, regimental style but hey, this is JV. Combine the success of Waikapu’s team with the traditional strong local/Hawaiian boys from the Wailuku team, and yeah, Lahaina will have their work cut out for them if they want to win their second consecutive JV championship.
This game was entertaining to say the least. It started off sloppy, with Baldwin up 6-4 after 1 quarter filled with turnovers and bad shots. Kody Takushi scored all of Baldwin ’s points on a variety of drives and put-backs. Very athletic hustle plays. Someone needs to put a body on him at all times.
Behind the steady play of Josh Chapital, Ryan Madera and Josh Corpuz, the Lunas crawled back and stayed close at half time.
The third quarter saw Baldwin turn to a fast break team, capitalizing on their height and quickness to storm out to a 37-26 lead. It looked over for Lahainaluna.
The Lunas re-grouped. They focused on defense. For 3:23 of the fourth quarter, the Lunas held Baldwin scoreless while Lahainaluna went on a 13-0 run to take a lead 39-37. The rest of the game was a back and forth affair.
The Lunas took the lead 48-47 with 43 seconds left when Josh Chapital coolly sank two free throws.
But they couldn’t finish. Baldwin had numerous shots at the basket, thanks to relentless offensive rebounding and, being taller, just tapping the ball away from the Luna rebounders. Baldwin was finally able to put the ball in on a put back, taking a 49-48 lead.
The Lunas came driving back, but a turnover by Josh Chapital sealed the loss. Baldwin did not do a good job of running out the clock, taking a shot with time left, but Lahainaluna could not secure the rebound.
My Two Cents
It was a tough loss for sure. But it does not matter. This is just the preseason. These games don’t mean anything. Last year, the Lunas started off slow but stormed through the tournament to take the championship. The team needs to remember . . . it’s not how you start, but how you finish.
LAHAINALUNA | 4 | 12 | 10 | 22 | - | 48 |
BALDWIN | 6 | 11 | 20 | 12 | - | 49 |
LAHAINALUNA | 48 | BALDWIN | 49 | |||
10 | Nicholas Vierra | 2 | 24 | Kody Takushi | 15 | |
12 | Marvin Sidon | 0 | 11 | Kainoa Tom | 0 | |
22 | Cyrus Kama | 2 | 42 | Philip Thomas | 6 | |
23 | Josh Chapital | 23 | 22 | Niko Corpin | 6 | |
24 | Joshua Corpuz | 6 | 31 | Matthew DeMichele | 0 | |
25 | Windell Taylan | 0 | 34 | Trent Helle | 2 | |
30 | Christian Cesar | 0 | 40 | Randy Wong | 4 | |
32 | Branden Agapay | 4 | 33 | Liam Wake | 0 | |
33 | Ryan Madera | 12 | 10 | Ginel Dasalla | 2 | |
34 | Ariel Domingo | 0 | 21 | Jomar Dela Cruz | 7 | |
35 | Zac Colton | 0 | 20 | Giovanni Inouye | 0 | |
-- | Mark Ligat | 0 | ||||
30 | Denzell Quines | 0 | ||||
41 | Christian Butay | 2 |
Head Coach: Bill Ciancio
Assistant coaches: Johnny Agapay, Head Coach: Randy Shimabuku
Dan Williams
For more pictures, click here.
Great job. Actually the JV has won the last 2 years and at least 4 of the last 5;
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the comment and the clarification. I certainly didn't intend to shortchange the success of the JV program! :)
ReplyDelete