KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Iolani's Derrick Lajola hit a forehand back to Punahou's Jonathan Farm, who had to retire with cramps in the third set yesterday. The Buffanblu beat the Raiders 3-2 for the ILH title.
Punahou wins
another ILH title
By Nick Abramo More than 150 spectators -- some regular tennis fans, some not -- huddled under an outdoor roof yesterday that shaded them from the sun.
nabramo@starbulletin.comThey came to the Punahou School tennis courts to see who would win the Punahou vs. Iolani match for the Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship, intrigued that the Raiders ended a decades-long Buffanblu winning streak a week ago.
Yesterday, with its top player, Robby Lim, leading the way, Punahou outlasted Iolani 3-2 for the school's 51st league title.
Lim and doubles partner Mike Azuma stormed back after going down 3-0 in the third set to beat Sean Morales and Torin Ching 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 and give the Buffanblu the deciding point.
"The fans and the rest of our teammates were the biggest factors at the end," said Lim, a junior who will defend his singles title at the upcoming state tournament. "We couldn't have done it without them. We were feeding off the crowd and each other.
"I felt it slipping away when we were down 3-0, and the pressure was pretty tremendous, especially because we were expected to win."
Morales and Ching were decided underdogs, according to coaches Rusty Komori of Punahou and Mike Burger of Iolani.
"Our doubles strategy (moving Lim from singles) worked, but I didn't anticipate it would be that close," Komori said. "That last match revealed the character of our players, though, and the team support we have. Depth is why we win matches. It's because of team depth, not just having one or two outstanding players, that we're successful every year."
Punahou went ahead 2-0 as Chris Iwamura and Mike Lim (Robbie's brother) defeated Jon Okada and Daniel Adachi 6-2, 6-0, while Ryan Laws and Nick Leong swept Eric Cunningham and Michael Okai 6-3, 6-3.
But the Raiders gave the Buffanblu a dose of their resiliency with two singles victories. Jon Lo dropped Will Grosswendt 6-2, 6-2, and Derrick Lajola evened the match at 2 by fighting back to stop Jon Farm 4-6, 6-0, 4-1. Farm retired with leg cramps.
"In the second set, I saw him stretching his calf, so I tried to be consistent and make him earn his points," Lajola said. "I knew that last doubles match was split after two sets and that motivated me because I knew we still had a chance."
Morales and Ching were one game away from giving Iolani the title, leading 5-4 in the third set, but that's when Lim and Azuma finally put it together.
Lim hit two winners early in the next game as he and Azuma broke Ching for the first time since the opening set to even it at 5. Lim then held serve for a 6-5 lead, while Azuma delivered two winners in the final game to wrap it up.
"When it was 5-all, they (Lim and Azuma) finally took a lead, 40-30, and that's when I first felt like we were in good shape," Komori said.
Morales knew the leads were never safe.
"Robbie's experience in tough situations was the difference," he said. "He knew when to turn it on.
"Still, it was a dream season for us. I never thought we'd be in a position to have a chance to beat Punahou for the ILH title."
It wasn't hard for Burger to find some solace after the loss.
"I'm happy about how far we came this year," said the Iolani coach. "I liked our chances (with Morales and Ching) up 3-0, but when they (Lim and Azuma) started coming back, I knew it wouldn't be easy. Robbie has pulled out matches like that before."
Punahou has won 31 straight ILH titles and is going for its 35th state championship and 13th in a row next month.
The Buffanblu athletic department is in the process of confirming exactly how many years the ILH-match winning streak lasted before Iolani ended it with a 3-2 victory last week. The streak dates back to at least 1984.
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