RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Punahou's Natale Rigg took a shot against Kahuku's Sara Mirels yesterday. Rigg was named the tournament MVP.

Punahou picks up
state title

All Kahuku saw was a blur of blue caps.

Punahou's quickness helped set up its offense and suffocating defense as the Buffanblu defended their HHSAA state girls water polo title with a 13-1 win over Kahuku last night at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.

All-tournament Ana Jarvie-Grodan, Baldwin; Nicole Hagi, Kapolei; Kim Kopra, Hawaii Prep; Ivy Yi, Kalani; Jamie Aoki, Roosevelt; Jennifer Saltzman, Hilo; Lacy Luehrs, Kahuku; Gina Ahue, Kahuku, Spenser Rigg, Punahou; Natale Rigg, Punahou Tournament MVP: Natale Rigg, Punahou

Tournament MVP Natale Rigg scored five goals to lead the Buffanblu (11-1), who have won both state titles.

"I think that was the primary difference," Kahuku coach Aukai Ferguson said of Punahou's speed. "Ken (Punahou coach Smith) always has kids with perfect fundamentals and everything else, but in the end, speed kills."

"We work more on quickness because we don't have a lot of swimmers on our team," Smith said. "That's why we emphasize quickness on both offense and defense."

Kellen Fletcher's goal 2 minutes into the game marked the beginning of Punahou's offensive attack. Fletcher scored again at the 3:21 mark and Angie Giancaterino scored at point-blank range with 1:56 remaining to give the Buffanblu a 3-0 lead.

Punahou was quickest in the second quarter as it scored six goals to lead 9-0. Rigg accounted for three of the Buffanblu goals.

"That's one of our keys to our success, we always talk about attacking," Smith said. "We attack on offense and we attack on defense and just try to keep teams on their backs a lot. You just attack them way out and give them a hard press and that leads into our offense, where we attack too."

Kahuku (14-2) struggled to keep up with the Buffanblu as the defense limited Red Raider looks at the goal. Kahuku finally broke through with 2 seconds left in the second quarter on Gina Ahue's goal.

"I thought my girls fought hard on defense and gave themselves some good opportunities, but it (Punahou's offense) was just overwhelming," Ferguson said. "They always smother you (on defense). Pressure, pressure, pressure from start to finish."

Fletcher and goalie Spenser Rigg anchored Punahou's defense near the goal, allowing their teammates to press outside. Rebecca Fonoimoana, Kahuku's leading scorer, was held scoreless.

"Our team has a lot of confidence in those two people (Fletcher and Spenser Rigg) and because of (that), we can take chances and go out and press because they can do a good job guarding close to the goal," Smith said.

"We ran on a press defense and played the lanes, so that helped us steal balls," Spenser Rigg said.

The win capped a marvelous run by the Buffanblu senior class, whose lone loss during its four-year career was to Kamehameha last week.

"We talked about (the loss) and we said competition is a privilege," Spenser Rigg said. "Kamehameha came out that night and played awesome water polo. What we realized was that the ILH (Interscholastic League of Honolulu) and water polo in the state is getting better and also that we're going to play really hard to beat them."

Natale Rigg sees their second title as a benefit to the sport statewide.

"Girls water polo has a state championship and boys don't," she said. "It really benefits the whole state regardless of who wins or loses. It's such a big step for us as a female sport and a sport that not many people in Hawaii know about."

Punahou 13, Kahuku 1

Goal scorers--Pun: Natale Rigg 5, Kellen Fletcher 3, Angie Giancaterino 3, Kristin Johns, Kelly Samples. Kah: Gina Ahue.
Third place: Hilo 3, Roosevelt 2, OT
Fifth place: Hawaii Prep 12, Kalani 8
Seventh place: Kapolei 8, Baldwin 7, OT