The Punahou girls water polo team has already had one long championship streak snapped, and the Buffanblu appear primed to keep the other one going.
Synnove Robinson and Kawehi Kauahi each scored three goals as Punahou defeated No. 3 seed Kamehameha-Hawaii 13-1 in the quarterfinals of the HHSAA Girls Water Polo Championships Thursday at Kamehameha.
Punahou doubled up as the ILH and state champions over the previous 13 seasons, but Kamehameha snapped the Buffanblu’s league championship run late last month. The water polo season wasn’t held in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19.
Punahou coach Ken Smith said his team is over the ILH setback and has its eyes on the bigger prize.
“We have the ability to let things go pretty quickly and move on. The next day, we were fine,” Smith said. “We didn’t play well and Kamehameha played really well. We have to just put that in the rear-view mirror and move forward.”
Punahou will play Kahuku in today’s semifinals at 6 p.m. at Kamehameha.
The Buffanblu defeated Kapolei 15-2 in a first-round match Monday.
“It felt pretty good because we’ve been struggling throughout this season, so it was nice to get another (victory) and getting us closer to the state championship game,” said Kauahi, a senior.
Kamehameha-Hawaii, the BIIF champion, and Punahou played on equal terms early Thursday before the Buffanblu got goals by Robinson (3:09), Reese Stallsmith (1:53) and Kauahi (0:03) in the first quarter.
“I felt really excited during the first quarter. I knew if we kept playing like that it would be an up-and-up game. I just feel like we got tired,” said Warriors senior Waiahuli Akau.
Robinson (5:59, 4:52), Ava Aguilera (4:19, penalty shot; 0:07) and Kauahi (2:10, 1:33) scored in the second quarter to give Punahou a 9-0 advantage.
The Buffanblu, who have three freshman starters, scored on eight of their nine shots on goal before halftime.
“We’ve been up a little bit and down as far as our consistency in shooting. Basically, it’s working hard, getting good shots and putting it away,” Smith said.
Punahou had 10 steals in the first half and 16 for the match.
“We had to be mentally tough because we knew what kind of team we were playing,” said the Warriors’ Akau. “I knew we had to work on communication, passing the ball and handling the ball at the top because I knew they’re a really good counter team and they can capitalize on bad passes.”
Akau’s power-play goal at 5:46 of the third quarter put Kamehameha-Hawaii on the scoreboard.
“That was the highlight of my season, being able to score against a really good team, a top team in the state,” she said.
Punahou subbed in six players with 2:58 remaining in the third.
Stallsmith scored at 1:18 to put the Buffanblu ahead 10-1.
Hope McCarren (4:25), Caylie Saiki (1:05) and Sarah Nagel (0:31) scored in the fourth quarter for the Buffanblu.
Kamehameha-Hawaii had one shot on goal in each quarter, while Punahou fired off 15.
“It’s different on the Big Island,” Warriors senior goalkeeper Hulalu Weissman said. “We don’t have teams that play at this level besides HPA.”
Kamehameha-Hawaii will play Mililani in a fifth-place semifinal today at 6 p.m. at Kamehameha.
Kaiser 12, Baldwin 4
Jaime Farah scored six goals and Kimie Ginoza added three as the Cougars beat the Bears.
Emi Chrash added two goals and Ashley Kaisho had one for Kaiser, which will play Kamehameha in today’s semifinals at 7:15 p.m.
Mikela De Aguiar scored twice, and Mariah Kuehu and Jasmine Devery each had one goal for Baldwin, which will face Hawaii Prep in a fifth-place semifinal today at 4:45 p.m.
Kahuku 16, Mililani 3
Wells Anderson scored four goals, and Tuua Cravens, Kimorah Wong and Maya Maki each added three for the Red Raiders.
Leila Hannemann, Tacoma Campbell and Lilyana Newton also scored for Kahuku.
The Trojans’ Leila Maynard scored twice and Morgan Russell added a goal.
Kamehameha 14, Hawaii Prep 5
La’ikukamahina Wong scored three goals and five teammates each scored a pair for the Warriors.
Kohia Rego, Ava Gurney, Leina’ala Wong, Jordyn Nishimura and Tea Brandon scored twice, and Charli Nakagawa added a goal for Kamehameha.
Ali Wawner, Lia Craven, Malie Imonen and Martina Guerra Bovea scored for Ka Makani.
