[ WATER POLO ]
Kamehameha's Elizabeth Hanohano-Hong looked to pass ahead of Punahou's Avery Cavanah in yesterday's match.
Buffanblu capture
state championship
The longer the match went, the stronger Punahou played.
The Buffanblu finished their season undefeated by stopping Kamehameha 7-3 last night in front of about 400 people in the final of the inaugural Local Motion Girls State Water Polo Championship.
"Our strategy was to keep the pressure on early, remain aggressive and make it pay off later on," said Punahou coach Ken Smith, whose team finished 11-0.
"We had strong counter-attacks, and even when we didn't score, we kept it up-tempo and it started to wear on them. We always want to have something left in the tank emotionally at the end and that's why in our first two games of the tournament (two 15-0 victories), we rotated our players a lot."
The first half was packed with back-and-forth action and the Warriors (7-4) took a 1-0 lead on Lauren-Ann Garrigan's goal.
Punahou tied it 1-all when Kamaile Crowell found the top right-hand corner with 28 seconds to go in the first quarter.
The teams traded goals the rest of the half, which ended 3-3 as Garrigan scored with 34 seconds before the break on a pass from Elizabeth Hanohano-Hong.
But the Buffanblu poured it on slowly but surely in the third quarter. Crowell scored the go-ahead goal and eventual game-winner 22 seconds into the second half. Natale Rigg and Kendra Dilcher tacked on third-quarter goals before Kellen Fletcher added the Buffanblu's last goal in the final period.
"It was a great game for high school girls water polo," Warriors coach Ben Nary said after the loss. "They came out fired up and we came out fired up. We're a young team and they had more experience and it showed. But my team played great."
Crowell finished with a game-high three goals.
"Oh my God, it's the best feeling," said Crowell, who is off to play for UCLA next year. "We've been wanting this for so long. We expected it to be not an easy game. I'm glad that when it was close we kept our intensity up. I think it all happened because of our defense. We stole a lot of balls from them."
Garrigan finished with two goals for Kamehameha.
"We did good, but Punahou really wanted it," Garrigan said. "We did our best and played strong as a team. We know we're just as strong as Punahou physically. They came to play, though, and took it away from us."
All four of Kamehameha's losses this season came against the eight-time Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion Buffanblu.
At Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex
Kamehameha (7-4) 1 2 0 0 -- 3 Punahou (11-0) 1 2 3 1 -- 7 Goal scorers--Kam: Lauren-Ann Garrigan 2, Elizabeth Hanohano-Hong. Pun: Kamaile Crowell 3, Kendra Dilcher, Natale Rigg, Avery Cavanah, Kellen Fletcher.
Goalies--Kam: Malia Chung. Pun: Jessica Brooks, Spenser Rigg.Kahuku 6, Hawaii Prep 3: The Oahu Interscholastic Association champion Red Raiders held off Big Island champion Ka Makani for third place.
Keala Whitford and Stephanie Emery scored two goals apiece to lead Kahuku.
Second-half goals by Alee Thompson and Larissa Luehrs sealed the victory.
Kahuku (14-1) 2 2 1 1 -- 6 Hawaii Prep (12-5-1) 1 1 1 0 -- 3 Goal scorers--Kah: Keala Whitford 2, Stephanie Emery 2, Larissa Luehrs, Alee Thompson. HPA: Poloma Vidgen 1, Kim Kopra 1, Soni Macy.
Goalies--Kah: Sara Mirels. HPA: Star Simpson.Waiakea 5, Roosevelt 2: The Big Island runner-up Warriors earned fifth place by beating the OIA runner-up Rough Riders.
Waiakea led by just one after three periods and got fourth-quarter goals by Tamarah Binek and Iris Alonzo to wrap it up. Binek finished with four goals.
Waiakea (11-5-1) 2 1 0 2 -- 5 Roosevelt (11-4) 1 0 1 0 -- 2 Goal scorers: Waiak: Tamarah Binek 4, Iris Alonzo. Roos: Jaime Aoki, Maria Hall.
Goalies: Waiak: Elizabeth Alonzo. Roos: Annah Blanton.Kaiser 6, Kalani 3: The Cougars beat the OIA rival Falcons for seventh place as Elsie Denight and Tarah Maruyama scored two goals each.
Aura Braine notched two goals for Kalani, which trailed by one goal -- 4-3 -- with 3:15 left before Kaiser pulled away.
Kaiser (9-7) 2 2 0 2 -- 6 Kalani (7-8) 0 2 0 1 -- 3 Goal scorers--Kais: Tarah Maruyama 2, Elsie Denight 2, Taryn Ino, Sesily Criado. Kaln: Aura Braine 2, Arielle Lee.
Goalies--Kais: Melina Rossi. Kaln: Kelly Bance.
