SHARKS FEND OFF DOLPHINS IN GIRLS HOOPS

By Paradis Jolie Fejerang

The battle of the water creatures took place Tuesday night as the Southern Dolphins and Sanchez Sharks swam on land in the ISA Girls Basketball League. In the end, it was the Sharks taking the bigger bite with a 49-40 win in the young season.

Right from the starting tipoff, the young athletes showed their passion for the win as the Sharks’ skill was put to the test by the Southern girls’ hustle. With both teams scoring eight points each, the first quarter ended in a tie and the Sharks on edge. 

Leading scorer for the Sharks, Kayna Kanemoto noticed right away that her opponents were going to be able to stay near throughout the game.

“[Southern] really had us moving…both their offense and defense is good,” Kanemoto shares as she is glad for the win but couldn’t help but point out how close the Dolphins were to them.

Motivated by the first quarter’s 8 – 8 result, the Sharks came into the second going all out but had to face Southern’s strongest competitor, Lana Quinata. Quinata was hot on the Sharks’ tails and getting in more points in for the quarter than any of the opposing athletes. 

Despite Quinata leading Southern with bulldozing energy, Sanchez was working to make sure they could get in a few more points past the Dolphin defense. Getting out their best quarter of the game right before the half, the Sharks were ahead comfortably 27-19.

Notes should be taken in response to the work that Southern’s girls put into their game no matter where they are in terms of score. The Dolphins opened up the second half tearing at every weak spot in the Sharks’ defense. With Southern killing the offensive game in the third quarter, the Sharks were only able to get seven points in as the Dolphins were catching up to collect a total of 29.

Riding her team’s high from the third, Quinata secured the title of leading scorer with a total of 18 points when the final quarter of the game rolled in.

In response to a fierce competitor, the Sharks’ Hope Kanemoto took the final quarter as her own, carrying the team both defensively and offensively the rest of the way to secure the victory.

The Kanemoto Sisters

Players of the game, the Kanemoto sisters, Kayna and Hope led the Sharks to victory for this third basketball game of theirs in the season. Both girls are still pumped from the volleyball season, especially older sister Kayna, who was named MVP for the ISA volleyball league and closed her senior season off with the championship for her team.

Jumping right into basketball, Kayna is definitely feeling the difference in movement and needing to get her muscles used to the basketball motions. “The feel is definitely different,” she laughs. Nevertheless, Kayna is working hard to add another trophy to the Sanchez shelves. “After playing hard in volleyball, I’m trying to bring that same game into basketball. [The goal is] to get the same feeling I did during volleyball: to get better, make it to playoffs and then get the championship.”

Sophomore sister, Hope, adds to the sentiment with emphasis on how important practices have been and will continue to be. “[We need] to improve and fix our mistakes and get better as a team,” Hope remarks, adding that the foremost measurement for practices is for her and her teammates to push each other in order to improve.

The sisters acknowledged that the game against the Dolphins was ‘crazy’ as they were kept on their toes but are glad they were able to get the win and are going to be up bright and early for their morning practice with the team to keep developing their skills.

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