Vikings hold off Hurricanes

Many factors contribute to a successful regular season, but come tournament time, experience matters. The third-seeded Hilo Vikings, led by their seniors, held on to defeat the Kapolei Hurricanes 10-9 in a thrilling opening-round game of the Local Motion/HHSAA Girls Water Polo State Championships.

Senior Dana Goya led the Vikings with four goals, and fellow seniors Kaipo McKeague and Tokiwa Heger scored three and two, respectively. Hilo used an efficient all-around game to frustrate Kapolei early in the match.

By stacking the defense in front of the goal, the Vikings forced Kapolei to make difficult entry passes. The result was a stagnant Hurricane offense and a Viking attack that feasted on breakaway sprintouts by speedy attackers en route to a 9-5 lead entering the final quarter.

Hilo head coach Ron Koehler knew he needed his team to play smart in order to combat the scrappy Hurricanes.

"We knew Kapolei had a good team," Koehler said. "They have tough players and they will play to the end. In that last quarter, they fought harder than us."

Entering the fourth quarter, Hilo thought it would cruise to a comfortable win. However, following a quick Viking score to open the period, Kapolei stormed back in the final minutes to post four straight goals and close the gap to one point.

Juniors Nicole Hagi and Ashlei Salas-Selem led the Hurricanes' comeback with precision shooting and tenacious defense. Hagi, a member of the All-OIA first team, cut the deficit to one on a penalty shot that found the right corner of the goal, but the rally fell short after Salas-Selem's shot sailed high over the goal post with 22 seconds left. Hilo ran out the clock and advanced to the state semifinals.

"Experience always pays off, but we have to play better than we did in that fourth quarter if we expect to make a run in this tournament," Koehler said.

Hilo, the champions out of the BIIF, improved to 12-1 for the season, and Kapolei fell to 11-4.

Roosevelt 5, Lahainaluna 3

The Rough Riders, behind strong goaltending from junior Annah-Vaile Blanton, defeated the fourth-seeded Lunas in a quarterfinal match. The Lunas' speed proved no match for the Rough Riders' size on defense.

MIL champion Lahainaluna, which entered the matchup undefeated at 9-0, tried to outswim Roosevelt from the opening whistle, but didn't create enough quality scoring opportunities. An early-fourth-quarter goal by Christyn Takara was too much for Lahainaluna to overcome.

Marissa Young led the Roosevelt attack with two goals.

Kahuku 16, Kalani 2

Meme Moody scored three goals, and five other Red Raiders scored twice as second-seeded Kahuku routed the Falcons.

Shannon Ching, Gina Ahue, Tania Siflon, Mika Bailey, and Rebecca Fonoimoana all scored twice for Kahuku, with both of Ching's goals coming in the first quarter as the Red Raiders led 4-0 after the first 8 minutes.

Alisza Henss and Brittney Lam scored for the Falcons.

Kamehameha 19, Kamehameha-Hawaii 5

Hanalei Crowell scored all five of her goals in the second and third periods and Nanea Fujiyama added four goals as the top-seeded Warriors lived up to their billing by crushing their Big Island counterparts.

Karie Nickle, Mahinamele Reyes and Hannah Thomas added two goals each for Kamehameha, and Sydney Lyons led Kamehameha-Hawaii with three goals.