The focus for Kamehameha is to remain focused for long durations of time.

The second-ranked Warriors had moments of concentration lapses, but their athleticism and ability to get around a big block allowed Kamehameha to sweep ‘Iolani 25-16, 25-18 in an ILH boys volleyball match on Tuesday at Kekuhaupio Gym.

“We’re not playing consistently to what we’re capable of,” said Kamehameha coach Kainoa Downing. “We’re having a lack of concentration at times. The nice thing is they know what they need to do, when they need to do it. I’d be happier if we did it more often.”

With spring break this week, the Warriors (7-1) can finally focus on volleyball. Time and energy were expended in Friday’s Kamehameha Song Contest, which all high school students participate in. Setter Nainoa Barlan-Garcia said the team is talking about its concentration.

“Now every day at spring break, we’re working hard at practice,” Barlan-Garcia said. “It’s a sight to see at practice when we do well.”

Naone Cannon and Kahiau Machado had seven kills each to lead Kamehameha and David Kaaa added six. The Warriors got around a big ‘Iolani block that includes 6-foot-8 Hugh Hogland.

“That was part of the game plan, 6-8 blocker, you try to swing hard and be offensive, but (also) make smart shots around it,” said Barlan-Garcia, who finished with 13 assists in his team’s two-setter offense. “I trust Naone enough to set him in the regular spots and be normal. Hopefully he makes the better decisions.”

Barlan-Garcia is one of three setters Kamehameha has this year. The Warriors went with him and Elijah Hew Len against the Raiders (2-5). Hew Len had 12 assists and an ace.

“We’re just finding that by giving each one a break of the pressure, it allows them to perform better more often,” Downing said.

Both sets were tight early on before the Warriors pulled away at the midway marks. ‘Iolani coach Carl Rallita said he’s working on getting his players to remain competitive for longer periods of time. Hogland led the Raiders with seven kills and two blocks. Erik Yamada had 14 assists.

“We’d like to compete past the two-third mark, to compete with a lot of energy and not let the score dictate what’s happening with our enthusiasm,” Rallita said.

“We had a really good game plan going in, we knew what they had. They have a lot of good athletes on their side. On our side, I don’t think I prepared them enough where at the halfway mark, they started to get some separation.”

Coach Downing is also back on the Kamehameha sideline after he stepped away following his team’s play at the Best of the West tournament in California. Assistant Alan Rosehill coached the Warriors last week when they played No. 1 Punahou. Downing said he “never was gone.”

“Coach is back, he’s our coach, just minor problems that we had to address as a team, but overall I think it brought us closer in the end,” Barlan-Garcia said. “Overall as a team, we got closer and we got closer with him. It wasn’t a negative experience at all, it was positive.”