Kalaheo's Grace Benton, Porsha Brandt and Malia Mortiz celebrate the victory in the water in front of the rest of their teammates. Spencer Honda | SL

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_18040519_040418_GWP_MOA-KHEO-0181.jpg - Spencer Honda | SL

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KAIMUKI — With the game tied at five in the third quarter, the Mustangs revved up the horsepower and rode a four-goal run to hold strong as Kalaheo defeated Moanalua, 9-8, Wednesday afternoon in Oahu Interscholastic Association second round girls water polo play at Kaimuki High School.

Kalaheo's run was fueled by goals from Malia Mortiz (2), Porsha Brandt and Mattea Jergovic to go up 9-5 with 6:48 left in the game, but Na Menehune pooled together a run of their own, getting goals from Emma McRae, Kiari Babineaux and Camryn Tabiolo to make it a one-score match with just over two and a half minutes remaining.

Moanalua had a last-chance opportunity to tie the game with the 35-second shot clock turned off.

After pressure by Moanalua's Karisa Yuasa, Kalaheo's Kiana Whitmore tossed the ball upfront toward the 5-meter line between teammates Madison Komatsu and Babineaux, with the latter reaching first. As Babineaux cocked her arm back with the ball, Kalaheo's Madison Schell swiped it from behind as Brandt secured the ball for the victory.

Brandt scored two additional goals for three total on the afternoon to bring her league-leading season tally to 38.

Moanalua's Tabiolo one-upped Brandt with a four-goal outing to bring her team-leading total to 21.

Kalaheo improves to 7-2 and will close out the regular season against Kaiser (10-0) and Kapolei (6-4), while Moanalua drops to 7-3 and will play Kahuku (8-1) and Kalani (5-4).

With the win, the Mustangs swap spots with Na Menehune in the OIA standings. Kalaheo moves up to No. 4 while Moanalua is No. 5.