Kara Kaneshiro was a model of consistency.

The Kalani senior knew, however, that classmate and close friend Teal Matsueda would be there in the end. Kaneshiro finished with 3-under-par 69 on day two, edging Matsueda by one stroke Tuesday at soggy, windy Pearl Country Club.

Moanalua sophomore Dylan Sakasegawa took the boys title, and Na Menehune won the boys team championship.

Mililani won the girls team title.

Kaneshiro and Matsueda have been buddies since they were 11 playing junior golf.

“I’m really excited and I’m really happy that me and Teal were able to come in top two,” said Kaneshiro, who signed to play for Colorado State. “We both push each other to be better.”

“I’m proud of her. She held it together and she won,” said Matsueda, who signed with Boise State.

Kaneshiro led the field by one stroke after Monday’s opening round with a 72. On Tuesday, the senior opened her lead over Kahuku sophomore Ava Cepeda to two strokes when Cepeda bogeyed the first hole. Kaneshiro had one minor blip on the next tee, losing her ball as crosswinds up to 20 mph sent it left of the fairway. The lost ball cost her a stroke (and distance), but Cepeda never closed the gap.

A bottleneck at the third tee gave the late flights time to refocus. At that point, the final three flights had already been on the course for an hour.

“Sometimes, it’s a little bit harder to carry momentum, but a lot of our friends were on the tee, so we were trying to keep it light and have fun,” Kaneshiro said. “I ended up being able to birdie the next hole, so it got the ball rolling a little bit.”

By the 10th hole, Kaneshiro had a three-stroke lead over Cepeda. By the 15th, despite a late-afternoon downpour, Matsueda was on a roll. After struggling on day one with a 75, she got her putter going as the fickle wind dissipated. After a birdie at No. 15, she moved into a tie for second place with Cepeda.

By the end of the par-5 17th, Matsueda birdied again and was one stroke behind her bestie. She then parred the 18th, and Kaneshiro calmly did likewise to earn the win.

Though scoreboard updates were available online, neither knew the other’s tally from start to finish. Kalani coach Renfred Frias asked Matsueda if she wanted to know when she arrived at the 17th tee.

“Coach, on the 17th green, he was like, ‘Do you want to know where you stand?’ And I’m like, no, don’t tell me,” Matsueda said. “But there were a lot of carts following my group. It was like, this is suspicious.”

Kaneshiro also preferred to focus on her finish.

“I did not (know). I only knew vaguely what people in my group were shooting,” Kaneshiro said. “I try to stick to my own game.”

By the end, Matsueda had seven birdies on Tuesday and a tourney-low 67.

Cepeda placed third, three strokes behind Kaneshiro with a second-round 70.

After struggling on Monday, Matsueda stayed an extra 45 minutes to work on her putting.

“Putting was a lot better today. I felt more confident. I didn’t leave many short except for the last hole,” she said.

Sakasegawa entered the second round in a tie with Waipahu’s Julian Samia, then shot a 1-over 73 to win the boys title by three strokes. By the third hole, he had a small cushion.

“I was saying, it’s my tournament to lose. Just keep it together. Just focus on every hole instead of the whole round,” Sakasegawa said. “I just tried to play my own game even if there was risk because I’m confident in my game and I know I can pull off a shot.”

Pearl is Moanalua’s practice site on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“The wind for me, if it’s in to me, I just go club up. I don’t try to do anything too special,” Sakasegawa said. “This is normal for me. It wasn’t super good, but it wasn’t super bad either. I just kind of played my normal, which is what I needed to do.”

Leilehua sophomore Casey Johansen also stayed close on the front nine, but Sakasegawa played virtually error-free golf the rest of the way. Nate Choi of Moanalua, Zaedis Yoshizawa of Kalani and Johansen rounded out the top five.

Johansen grew up playing basketball and did not pick up a golf club until January 2021. After a few lessons, he picked up the mechanics of his swing rather quickly. Leilehua coach Mat Smithe encouraged Johansen to join the Mules’ team.

“Coach Clemente (Balboa of Pearl City) helped me a lot, too. I’ve been working a lot on my swing, on my putting in the house,” Johansen said. “My parents helped me a lot, too.”

The David Ishii/HHSAA State Championships will be on May 9-10 (girls) and May 11-12) at Wailua Golf Course on Kauai.