The KS Maui junior varsity girls basketball team finished their season with a 31-6 loss against the Baldwin Bears Thursday night at Kaʻulaheanuiokamoku gym.
Only five members of the team were on the court: freshmen Megan Miguel, Mckenna Chaney, Mele Ngalu and Ofa-Helotu Koka, along with sophomore Lilia Lorenzo.
Two other members of the team were out with injuries, and one, sophomore Kelia NeSmith, was playing with the varsity team at the Wahine Classic Tournament at Seabury Hall during the JV game.
The first quarter started off with a pair of missed free throws by Chaney followed by a successful free throw by the Bears 20 seconds later.
Chaney later scored two points for the Warriors; however, Baldwin earned an additional eight points and finished off the first quarter 2-9.
From then on, the Bears kept the Warriors at bay as they scored less than two minutes into the second quarter.
The battle intensified with both sides enduring many plays halted by the referees. Finally, the Bears broke through and scored the first two of four points sored in the last minute of the first half. The second quarter ended with a score of 2-15.
Within the first two minutes of the third quarter, the Bears widened the score gap by three points. Finally, with 3 minutes and 36 seconds to go, Miguel put the ball through the hoop and brought the Warriors up 4-18. The Bears fired up the court and continued to score basket after basket, with many points coming from their free throws.
Lorenzo and Miguel were the speedy members of the Warriors, having control of the ball most of the time and making the most attempts at scoring; however, they did ran into a strong Bears defense.
“I was missing shots and passes,” Lorenzo said. “And I wasn’t breathing right.”
The third quarter ended 4-20.
The Bears steadily accumulated 11 more points in the fourth quarter before Ngalu secured the Warriors’ final basket with 11 seconds to go. The game ended 31-6. The five girls were spent, but managed to prevent a shutout in their last game of the season through their perseverance.
“The five girls worked hard,” Assistant Coach Ululani Kepani said. “Lilia did well. She got tired because they did have to work so hard.”
