Warriors have a shot
By Pat Bigold
at clinching ILH football
title tonight
Star-BulletinFor the second year in a row, it comes down to St. Louis and Kamehameha to decide the Interscholastic League of Honolulu title.
The teams play tomorrow at 7:45 p.m. at Aloha Stadium.
A win by the Warriors, who were the ILH first-round champions, would end the Crusaders' 12-year stranglehold on the league title.
A win by St. Louis would give the Crusaders the second-round title and force a playoff between the two Nov. 20 at Aloha Stadium.
A St. Louis win would also mark Crusader head coach Cal Lee's 200th victory. He already is the winningest prep football coach in Hawaii history.
The last time these teams met, St. Louis won, 10-3, in an ILH playoff on Nov. 21 of last year.
That playoff was forced when Kamehameha upset the Crusaders, 34-15, in the final game of the regular season.
Jason Gesser, now at Washington State, was the regular starting quarterback for St. Louis but he suffered a fractured left arm in a victory over Punahou the week before.
So, sophomore Timmy Chang stepped into the starting role against Kamehameha and was intercepted three times.
"We played awfully well in all three areas in that game," said Kamehameha head coach Kanani Souza. "Defense, offense and we gave up no big plays on special teams."
The loss ended a 31-game win streak for St. Louis. But Chang performed with poise in marshalling the playoff win.
Chang has come a long way. Last week against Pac-Five, he tied Darnell Arceneaux's ILH single-season touchdown pass record of 27.
"They score a lot of points, they're explosive and they have a lot of weapons," said Souza.
"St. Louis has as good a team as it's ever had, or maybe better. but we've been bouncing like a basketball."
Although they won the ILH first round and are within reach of wrapping up the league title, the Warriors lost to Waianae in preseason, lost to Iolani in the first round and suffered a stunning upset at the hands of Pac-Five in the second round.
While Chang has a cavalcade of capable receivers, he often finds the most potential for big gains in all-state slotback Gerald Welch.
Welch is a Tasmanian Devil with the football, spinning and ripping away from tackles, very difficult to bring down.
While St. Louis can get major ground yardage out of 5-8, 200-pound Damien Cole and 5-11, 210-pound all-state pick Noah Campbell, Kamehameha will rely on the lighter but faster 5-7, 160-pound Chad Mahoe.
Cole and Campbell have combined for 24 touchdowns and 1,169 yards this season.
Mahoe is the ILH's second leading rusher behind Iolani's Joe Igber. Last week against Iolani, Mahoe had 265 yards and two touchdowns.
Kamehameha has the league's No. 1 defense against the rush and No. 2 defense against the pass. St. Louis's defense is No. 2 against the rush and No. 1 against the pass.
ILH football
St. Louis (8-1) vs. Kamehameha (7-2)
Kamehameha rolls into
By Catherine Toth
state quarterfinals
Special to the Star-BulletinThe top teams got down to business yesterday at the Nissan Hawaii High School Athletic Association Boys' Volleyball Tournament.
And it was business as usual for Kamehameha.
The top-seeded Warriors blew past Nanakuli, 15-6, 15-2, and Waiakea, 15-1, 15-4, at Kekuhaupio Gym. With eight players over 6-feet tall, Kamehameha dominated the net. They held Waiakea to just five kills.
"Not only are we bigger than usual, we're a lot more technical than we've usually been," Kamehameha coach Pono Ma'a said. "And this team shows a lot of spirit. They know where they're supposed to be and ... they count on each other to do their jobs."
Six-foot senior Kalei Chun-Dela Cruz, who earned all-state honors last year, orchestrated the Warriors' offense.
"We're confident, but not overconfident," the third-year setter said. "We respect our teams 'cause there's always the underdogs that come back."
Despite a relatively easy first round, Ma'a isn't looking past any opponent.
"Punahou, as the returning state champions, is the team for us to really keep our eye on," Ma'a said. "But along the way, Pearl City looks like a scrappy team and Kohala looks like they play with a lot of spirit, so it's going to be a matter of us focusing on the basics."
Pearl City, on the other hand, stumbled along its way to tomorrow's quarterfinals.
After pushing past Maui, 15-7, 15-9, the second-seeded Chargers had some problems fending off a feisty Kohala team. Although the Oahu Interscholastic Association champions prevailed, 15-8, 15-11, the Cowboys put up a fight, rallying from behind in both sets to even up the score.
"It was an ugly win, but we did it," Chargers coach Reid Shigemasa said. "But if we play like this tomorrow, we're not going to go anywhere."
Senior middle blockers Raymond Bode and Justen Shelton anchored the Chargers' offense. Bode led the team with six kills; Shelton coupled his five kills with six blocks.
But according to Shigemasa, the one thing missing from the team's performance last night was enthusiasm. And that's what they'll need to win.
"It didn't seem like they wanted to play," Shigemasa said. "I guess as it gets closer to the (finals), they might get more adrenaline and play better, but at this point, it's not working."
Team captain Lordy Cullen agreed.
"I know we can play better," the 5-9 outside hitter said. "We did OK. The setting and passing was good, but we need to do better. We were just out of our game today."
At McKinley, third-seeded Konawaena scraped by Kalaheo, 15-12, 3-15, 15-13, before falling to four-time defending state champion Punahou, 15-12, 15-12. The Buffanblu swept their earlier match against Kalaheo, 15-9, 15-6.
After defeating Kauai, 15-13, 15-11, fourth-seeded Seabury Hall ran into trouble with Waianae. But the Spartans held on, defeating the persistent Seariders, 16-14, 12-15, 16-14.
ILH GIRLS: University High defeated Punahou, 15-6, 15-8, last night at McCabe Gym to secure the second of three Interscholastic League of Honolulu berths in next week's Nissan HHSAA state girls' volleyball tournament.
Punahou can nail down the third state tournament berth with a victory over La Pietra at 6:30 p.m. at Kamehameha. If La Pietra wins today, the two teams will have to meet again at a time and site to be determined.
Kamehameha's nationally ranked team, led by Lily Kahumoku, is undefeated and took the first state berth by winning the ILH crown.
State boys' volleyball
Today's matchups, at McKinley