Kamehameha players celebrate after notching a point against Punahou. The Warriors won in four sets. Evan Asato | SL

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KAPALAMA HEIGHTS — Kamehameha overcame a slow start with a total team effort to top Punahou in four sets for a key league win Saturday afternoon.

A crowd of about 500 were on hand at Kekuhaupio Gymnasium to see the Warriors (8-4) defeat Punahou (7-4), 15-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-20, in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I contest.

The win keeps the Warriors in the running for the league's second berth into the state tournament. Punahou can force a playoff between the two teams and Iolani to determine the ILH's second round title if it wins the rest of its regular season games. 

If Iolani wins out, it will claim the second round title and the league overall crown. In this scenario, Punahou and Kamehameha will have a playoff game to determine the final state berth at the end of the regular season because the two teams split games in the first round, according to Kamehameha coach Chris Blake.

Leading the way for the Warriors was outside hitter Kayla Afoa, who racked up a match-high 25 kills from a variety of spots. The 5-foot-9 senior also had a good defensive game with 10 digs.

"She was able to move the ball around well," Blake said on Afoa. "She did okay on her blocking but she passed really well and played good defense, which is a big key for her. When she gets that going her offense usually follows."

Kill Robins, the Warriors' other main outside hitter, chipped in 14 kills and a block in the match.

Middle blocker Shiloh Pelaras also came on strong after the first set to diversify the Kamehameha attack. The 5-foot-10 senior added 13 kills and five blocks to take away attention from the Warriors' pins.

"She's been really effective and teams see her so teams are doing a lot of things to try and limit her," Blake said on Peelers. "Our other middle, Brooke Kaawa also did a great job of being effective. This helped open a lot of things for our outsides."

Blake also gave credit to senior opposite Ililani Kamaka.

"She doesn't get many sets but what she does is she sets up our right side post block that allows everything else to happen," he said. "When she's engaged she opens up a lot of things for our middles."

Kaawa and Francesca Johnson notched five kills in the win. Freshman setter Lexis Akeo had 47 assists and junior libero Kyra Hanawahine had a match-high 18 digs.

The Buffanblu jumped out to an early 8-1 lead in the opening set to force a timeout. Kamehameha climbed back into it to make a three-point game before Punahou pulled away to take set one, 25-15. Punahou libero Brandee Markwith had four service aces in the first set to help fuel the run.

"Punahou is a great team and they do a lot of great things that we had to adjust for," said Blake. "Punahou took it to us in the first set. They passed really well and put us in a lot of bad spots. We had to settle our team down and go back to the little things that we need to do."

The Warriors rebounded from their early miscues and played Punahou tight throughout the second set. The score was tied at 23-all before an Afoa kill and a Punahou return error gave Kamehameha the frame.

"We made one too many errors on our end," said Punahou coach Tanya Fuamatu-Anderson. "Kudos to Kamahemeha. They came out to play and they hung in there."

Blake says the close win in set two helped his team win the final two sets to take the match.

"Game two was a tight, back-and-forth battle," he said. "We were able to get over the hump in the end game of set two and that gave us momentum heading into sets three and four."

Hana Lishman had 18 kills to lead the Buffanblu. Kiana Peroff chipped in 12 kills and 14 digs for a double-double performance. Punahou setter Nikki Lum had 41 assists, but had the first touch on a good amount of possessions and finished with 14 digs.

Kamehameha's next game will be at Maryknoll next Tuesday.

"I think it was a great team win," said Afoa. "We still have a lot to improve and work on. We still have to keep our foot on the gas pedal for this week and the rest of the season."