Kamehameha and Punahou meeting for the state girls water polo title is back after a two-year hiatus.
Kamehameha defeated Hawaii Prep 14-2, and top-seeded Punahou beat Kaiser 16-1 in the semifinals of the Stanford Carr Development/HHSAA Girls Water Polo Championships on Friday at Kamehameha.
The Buffanblu have defeated the Warriors in all 10 of their state title matches, including the past five, from 2015 to 2019. No tournaments were held the past two years because of COVID-19.
Kamehameha and Punahou will play for the crown today at 6 p.m. at Kamehameha.
“It’s going to be a challenge and that’s what we’ve been focused on all year,” said Kamehameha coach Anthony Cabrera. “Looking forward to that challenge and just going out and competing.”
The Warriors and Buffanblu used superior speed to overwhelm their opponents.
“One thing we focus on is our transition from defense to offense and use the speed that we have,” said Punahou coach Ken Smith. “You can tell. You can see our speed a little bit.”
In the first semifinal, the Warriors (10-4) scored first on a goal by Jordyn Nishimura at 3:40 and Hawaii Prep’s Maile Imonen tied it with a power-play goal at 3:10. It was the only shot of the first quarter for Ka Makani (8-2).
The Warriors then reeled off four unanswered goals to end the quarter with a 5-1 lead. Leinaala Wong scored at 1:55, Nishimura found the back of the net at 1:13, Wong scored again at 0:29 and Maka’ala Ng scored at 0:05. Both of Wong’s goals were on power-plays.
“I’m really lucky and I appreciated them looking for me,” said Wong, a sophomore.
Kamehameha’s Ava Gurney scored at 4:58 of the second quarter, Wong scored another power-play goal at 3:18 and Ella Turner scored at 0:41 to stretch the advantage to 8-1 at halftime
In the third quarter, Tea Brandon scored at 6:03, Nishimura scored at 2:32, Reaves Dayton converted a penalty shot at 2:12 and Dayton scored again at 0:30 as the Warriors’ lead reached 12-1.
Kamehameha, the ILH runner-up, took a 14-1 lead on Lauren Terada’s goal at 3:23 of the fourth and Henna Chong Tim’s goal at 2:21. Ali Wawner of Hawaii Prep, the BIIF runner-up, capped the scoring with a goal at 1:55.
“They showed up and they were playing hard from the beginning and their counterattack was really great. They’ve got some great shooters, too,” said Hawaii Prep coach Greg McKenna of the Warriors.
Kamehameha goalie Kahala Neumann had eight saves and Hawaii Prep counterpart Lia Singh made four.
In the second semifinal, Punahou took a quick 4-0 lead against Kaiser on goals by Kaylee Ogawa at 6:36 of the first quarter, Colette Jones at 6:12, Emma Luna at 5:10 and penalty shot by Allison Kauahi at 3:59.
The Cougars made it 4-1 on a long shot by Kimie Ginoza at 3:48.
The Buffanblu (13-0) answered with a goal by Luna at 3:35.
Punahou, the ILH champion, scored four times in the second quarter to take a 9-1 advantage. Luna scored at 6:41, Jones scored at 2:32, Pono Gacutan tallied at 1:31 and Sophie Bender scored on a power play at 0:55.
In the third quarter, Luna scored at 6:36, Kauahi at 6:13 and Ogawa at 5:32 as the Buffanblu scored on their first three shots. Jones added a goal at 4:57 to put Punahou ahead 13-1.
The Buffanblu scored in the fourth on a goal by Ogawa at 6:26 and Gacutan’s penalty shot at 2:59. Reese Stallsmith scored with 47 seconds remaining for the Cougars (10-2). It was the only shot on goal for Kaiser, the OIA runner-up, in the second half.
“It was really fun being able to have everyone get in the pool,” said Luna, a senior. “Once we had a lot of counterattacks we tried our best to run the clock and set up our offense.”
Punahou goalie Reia Kim had five saves and Kaiser’s Malia Felix finished with 11.
The Buffanblu beat the Warriors in all four of their ILH meetings this season, by an average of 2.8 goals.
“Kamehameha is an amazing team, so we’re not going in extremely confident,” Luna said. “We going in ready to work, knowing we have to put in our best effort. We’re excited to see how it turns out and we know it’s going to be a great game tomorrow.”
—
Friday
At Kamehameha
Semifinals
Punahou 16, Kaiser 1
Goal scorers—Pun: Emma Luna 4, Kaylee Ogawa 3, Colette Jones 3, Allison Kauahi 2, Pono Gacutan 2, Sophie Bender, Reese Stallsmith. Kais: Kimie Ginoza.
Kamehameha 14, Hawaii Prep 2
Goal scorers— HPA: Maile Imonen, Ali Wawner. KS: Leinaala Wong 3, Jordyn Nishimura 3, Reaves Dayton 2, Henna Chong Tim, Ella Turner, Ava Gurney, Tea Brandon, Maka‘ala Ng, Lauren Terada.
Consolation
Kamehameha-Hawaii 9, Kahuku 5
Goal scorers—Kah: Wells Anderson 3, Aika Dougherty 2. KSH: Waiahuli Akau 5, Oliliu Wise 3, Kaiulani Rocha.
Roosevelt 20, Lahainaluna 7
Goal scorers—Roos: Eunchae Clara Lee 7, Maile Shiroma 4, Kayla Uchimura 4, Maya Uchimura 2, Emily Pacis, Carly Jimenez, Jazlyn Tomisa. Lah: Maile Casal 5, Jordan Puliki Rogers 2
