Larry Tuileta slammed 15 kills as No. 1 Punahou rallied past No. 3 Kamehameha 18-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-22 to capture the Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys volleyball championship.

A crowd of about 400 at Hemmeter Fieldhouse saw the regular-season winner Buffanblu take the tournament title with the win, which sealed the league title and the league’s seeded berth in the upcoming state tournament.

"We came out in the first set really off our groove. But we found our rhythm," said Tuileta. "We had 13 passing errors in the first set, but we’ve learned how to play steady throughout the match. Losing one set is just losing one set."

The 10th ILH crown in a row was far from the easiest, and with the title, Punahou (13-0) can host a regional in the state tourney.

"It gets harder every time," Buffanblu coach Rick Tune said.

Kamehameha (10-4) will have to travel.

"My only thought is, I’m glad I don’t have to worry about it,’ " Tune added.

Micah Maa added 10 kills despite playing with an illness, and Trent Thompson also had 10 kills. Daniel Andrews, a 6-7 middle, tallied seven kills and four blocks, and J.B. Kam came off the bench for five kills, including three big swings late in the pivotal third set.

"They turn it on when they have to. J.B. Kam stepped up tremendously for them tonight," Kamehameha coach Kainoa Downing said. "(Wil) Stanley set a real simple match. Both he and (Todd) Gruebner did a good job."

The Buffanblu overcame an explosive performance by Kamehameha’s Kaehu Kaaa, who pounded 19 kills and three aces. All three aces came in the first set.

"It was pretty sore, but I wanted to do the best I can to help out the team," said Kaaa, who had both knees wrapped with ice after the match. "They settled down. They didn’t change much. They just minimized their mistakes. We’ve come a long way since the beginning of the season."

Punahou’s normally balanced attack was erratic in that opening game. After hitting .038 in that set, they peaked late and hit .500 with no hitting errors in game four.

"We got better as the match went on. We still had moments where we struggled. Kamehameha’s a good team and they did some things that we need to work on defensively," Tune said. "It’s no excuse, but our middle (Noah Hayashida) is out and our opposite (Taylor Wiens) is out, and Micah gutted his way through a bronchial infection."

Stanley (24 assists, one ace) and Gruebner (23 assists) were in command, and sophomore libero Kelsey Yogi anchored the back row.

"We had a lot of new guys thrust into roles and asked to do things they normally don’t do. Trent and J.B. played well, and Daniel had some big swings," Tune added.

Kamehameha was coming off a win over Saint Louis on Monday.

"We’re still making simple errors, young-player errors. We didn’t make those simple errors in the first game," Downing said. "I don’t get all this back-to-back stuff. These are high school kids."

Still, they got nine kills from Kahiau Machado, seven from David Kaaa and six from Bryson Barian-Garcia. George Kailiwai (five kills, one block) and Breynt Cannon (four kills, one block) were tough in the middle.

Elijah Howlen finished with 27 assists and Cody Wong added 21.

Downing is not happy with the state-tourney format.

"They have a 3 o’clock match (on a neighbor island) on a Saturday after you play a Friday night match. Who plays a 3 o’clock match? … The whole system they’ve got is messed up," he said.