Trojans down Kahuku in straight sets in OIA semis

Mililani's Kamalu Kaaa puts down a kill attempt through two Kahuku defenders. He had 13 kills in the Trojans' win. Peter Caldwell | SL

ALIAMANU — The Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I championship will be a showdown between the best of the West and the beast of the East.

Mililani, the top-seeded team from the OIA West, made quick work of Kahuku in the league semifinals Tuesday night at James Alegre Gymnasium to advance into the title game to meet Eastern conference leader Moanalua.

"That was our main goal at the state of the season was to get to this point," said Mililani coach John Ing. "The boys worked hard and it finally paid off."

Isaac Liva had 15 kills and Kamalu Kaaa added 13 more to help the Trojans (12-0) sweep the Red Raiders (11-2), 25-15, 25-20 and 25-17.

Live, a transfer from Interscholastic League of Honolulu and state Division II powerhouse Hawaii Baptist, also added 10 digs to have a double-double.

"It's so much fun and I'm enjoying it and the guys have been so welcoming," said Liva.

Sila Fuiava added four kills, Chance Guillermo had three more and Samuel Palompo pounded two from the middle to round out the Trojans with kills. Libero Gavin Custodio had 13 digs and Zavier Lieb racked up 32 assists.

The Trojans trailed 3-0 to start the opening game, but rallied back to tie it at six and seven points each. From there Mililani was able to get back-to-back kills by Liva to take the lead for good as Trojans were able to cruise to a 10-point victory in game one and ride the momentum for the straight set win.

"We came out flat. Even from our warmups we were just flat," said Ing. "We just had to battle through that. Once we started getting on a roll and getting comfortable we got into a groove."

Liva said that limiting unforced errors against Moanalua will be key to determining the league champion.

"I think we need to play efficient and eliminate our own errors and let (Moanalua) make the errors," he said.

The Trojans will also look to contain Austin Matautia, who had a match-high 24 kills in Na Menehune's straight set semifinal win over Waipahu.

"I think Austin is the best player in the state," said Ing. "If we can slow him down and control everyone else, we have a good chance."

Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].