Punahou pulls away from Kealakehe, 3-1

Punahou's Duncan McKenna puts his hand in the air after scoring one of his two goals Thursday afternoon. Leighland Tagawa | Special to SL

WAIPAHU — Duncan McKenna scored a goal in each half to lead Punahou past Kealakehe 3-1 in a quarterfinal of the Queen's Medical Center/HHSAA Division I Boys Soccer State Championships at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium Thursday afternoon.

The Buffanblu, who finished second in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, improved to 11-2-2 and will play top-seeded Kapolei in Friday's semifinal round at 7 p.m.

Senior Noah Williams got Punahou on the board with his seventh goal of the season in the seventh minute.

Kolby Martin scored the equalizer in the 29th minute for Kealakehe, but McKenna found the back of the net just a minute later to reclaim the lead for the Buffanblu.

Punahou took a 2-1 lead into halftime and added an insurance goal on McKenna's penalty kick in the 75th minute. McKenna, a senior forward, now has a team-high 13 goals scored on the season.

Kealekehe, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion and No. 4 seed in the tournament, fell to 12-3-1 and will play Pearl City in a fifth-place semifinal, 3 p.m. Friday at field No. 7.