The Knights' senior goalie/forward and the Governors' senior running back turned in stellar individual efforts last week. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Female Athlete of the Week: Kaile Kauanui, Castle soccer
Kaile Kauanui finally got her wish Friday.

The senior goalkeeper walked the walk after talking the walk, scoring three goals after a move up to forward in Castle's 9-0 win over Farrington.

For Kauanui, a two-year starter in goal for the Knights, it was a matter of proving herself to her coach.

"Out of the blue one day she said, ‘Hey coach, put me out there. I want to try,' " Castle coach Millie Dydasco said. "I said, ‘You think it's so easy to go out there and play forward?' She said, ‘Just feed me the ball.' "

After building up a quick 4-0 lead in the first 20 minutes of the match, Kauanui moved up to forward and her teammates did just as she asked.

"Our players had set her some good through balls and she had just taken it down and took what the defense presented," Dydasco said. "She just played direct and took it down and put those three balls in the net. She did really well."

Kauanui scored all three of her goals in the final 20 minutes of the first half and helped the Knights take a commanding 7-0 lead at halftime.

Dydasco said Kauanui's self-confidence gave her the confidence to give her a shot up top.

"It's not out of cockiness or in a bad way, but in a fun way she's extremely confident to do anything that is a challenge out there," Dydasco said. "Her inner confidence actually transpires out in the field and she's just a great coachable player, so we said if the opportunity presented itself in a game where we can get our second goalkeeper out there and get Kaile at forward and play for us, maybe she can give us a spark."

It was Kauanui's first goals of the season, but puts her second on the team in scoring behind junior forward Ciana Rivera's four goals on the year.

Still, it's between the posts where Kauanui has been most effective for the Knights this season. She has yet to allow a goal in their 4-0 start to the year.

"Kaile has been coming up with a couple big saves and we also have a couple of very strong defenders this year, so it's a combination of both those things that have given us a strong overall team defensive effort out there," Dydasco said.

One of those trusty fullbacks on the backline is Kauanui's twin sister, Shea.

"They're both great athletes and they bring a lot of value to our team in their own ways, but they don't necessarily always talk to each other, yet they've got each others backs and they can rely on each other," Dydasco said.

Castle sits atop the standings of the Oahu Interscholastic Association's Eastern Division, but will face its toughest test to date in the form of unbeaten Kaiser (3-0) Saturday.

"It was nice to win against Roosevelt and then take care of business by beating Kalani and Farrington, but we all know from previous years that Kaiser, Kahuku, Moanalua, those are the games that we really need to test ourselves, so we know what this game means and it's certainly going to be a big challenge for us," Dydasco said.

Kauanui and the Knights kickoff Saturday's game against the Cougars at 3:30 p.m. at Castle.

Male Athlete of the Week: Challen Faamatau, Farrington football
The first half of Saturday's Life Champion Senior Bowl was nothing to write home about for Challen Faamatau, but he certainly made his mark in the second.

After being held to four yards on six carries before halftime, Faamatau finished with 146 yards on 24 attempts in a losing effort. Despite the masterful effort from the Farrington running back, his White team fell to the Black team, 34-21, in the third annual all-star game that featured 132 high school seniors at Lihue's Vidinha Stadium.

"Coming into the game I knew we were going to pass a lot, so for me I was working a lot on my pass blocking," Faamatau said. "But our first drive of the second half we went with run plays and it started working."

Faamatau, who is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds, said his team's second-half play-calling was influenced by an injury to one of three quarterbacks on the roster.

"When (Waianae's) Jaren Ulu got hurt, we tried to pass it but things just weren't working out, so we had to run the ball," said Faamatau, who averaged 8.7 yards per carry after halftime.

Faamatau's workload increased heavily in the second half, when he carried 18 times — 12 more rushes than he had in the first half. At one point, White team co-head coach Reggie Torres put Faamatau at quarterback in a wildcat package.

"That actually started off as a joke in practice when coach called for a quarterback and I guess they didn't hear and I said ‘I'll go in then,' " Faamatau said. "Then when it came to the game and Jaren was injured, coach Reggie was like ‘why not?' I'm used to it from my senior season at Farrington, our center Vili (Fisiiahi) is used to it because Kahuku used it, so we figured we might as well run it."

Faamatau suffered a shoulder sprain in Farrington's season-ending loss to Waianae in the first round of the state tournament, but said he was at full strength for the all-star game.

Still, he did not expect the kind of workload he received Saturday.

"Honestly, no. I didn't," Faamatau said with a laugh. "My mentality was coming and having fun, meeting some new friends from other schools and being able to play with some guys that were rivals. I knew we had a lot of cubs with the rotations, so I didn't really imagine myself working that hard, but I'm always prepared for when that moment comes."

Faamatau finished second in Division I statewide with 1,208 rushing yards this season. He led the state in both carries (254) and rushing touchdowns (17).

Konawaena coach Brad Uemoto, who assisted with the White running backs, praised Faamatau's effort throughout the week of practices.

"He's a very humble kid that has good work ethic and a lot of talent," Uemoto said. "In the short opportunity I had to coach him, I learned as a coach and will take some things to my running backs. I am confident he will be a great player at the next level."

Faamatau said being tackled by fellow Governor Tainano Gaulua — a defensive lineman for Team Black — was "weird.

"It was weird because I'm used to him not tackling me — not even in practice — because we only tag off on the the quarterbacks and running backs," Faamatau said. "It was weird, but it was great. All of the competition was at a high level. We got to bond with other teammates from other schools."

Faamatau isn't quite done with his shoulder pads just yet. He will participate in the inaugural Polynesian Bowl on Jan. 21 at Aloha Stadium.

BOYS BASKETBALL
Matthew Amitoso, Mililani — Scored 17 points in a loss to Kahuku

Ja'Shon Carter, Kapolei — Scored 17 points in a loss to Iolani and scored 21 points in a loss to Punahou

Caleb Casinas, Moanalua — Scored 24 points in a loss to Mid-Pacific

Zayne Chong, Punahou — Scored 17 points in a win over Kahuku

Duke Clemens, Punahou — Scored 16 points in a win over Leilehua

Nalu Coito, Mid-Pacific — Scored 18 points with three rebounds and two steals in a win over Kalaheo

Liam Fitzgerald, Leilehua — Scored 16 points in a loss to Punahou and scored 25 points in a win over Kamehameha

Hugh Hogland, Iolani — Scored 26 points in a win over Kapolei and scored 25 points in a win over Moanalua

Noah Kurosawa, St. Francis — Scored 20 points, including six 3-pointers, in a win over St. Joseph

Kaulana Makaula, Punahou — Scored 19 points in a win over Kapolei and scored 19 points in a win over Kalaheo

Calvin Mattos, Waiakea — Scored 20 points in a loss to St. Francis

Christian Mejia, Kailua — Scored 16 points in a loss to Kapolei

Kameron Ng, St. Francis — Scored 20 points in a win over St. Joseph, scored 19 points in a win over Waiakea and scored 24 points in a win over Honokaa

Chris Sykes, Saint Louis — Scored 17 points in a win over Kamehameha-Hawaii

Jason Talbo, Roosevelt — Scored 17 points in a win over Radford

Christmas Togiai, Kamehameha — Scored 16 points in a win over Farrington

Everett Torres-Kahapea, Kailua — Scored 21 points in a win over Punahou II

Kamren Victorino-Kato, Kamehameha — Scored 18 points in a win over Moanalua

Jessiya Villa, Kahuku — Scored 23 points in a loss to Punahou

Noah Woodby, Kalaheo — Scored 24 points with 14 rebounds, five steals and two assists in a win over Kamehameha

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Camy Aguinaldo, Iolani — Scored 15 points with five rebounds and three steals in a loss to Maryknoll and scored 16 points in a win over Salesian

Shaelie Burgess, Radford — Scored 16 points in a win over Waipahu

Alexis Corea, Kapolei — Scored 15 points in a win over Waianae

Isabella Cravens, Maryknoll — Scored 12 points with 13 rebounds and two blocks in a win over Iolani

Salara Dill, Radford — Scored 17 points in a win over Waipahu

Braeanna Estabillo, Lahainaluna — Scored 20 points in a win over King Kekaulike

Julia Fisher, Le Jardin — Scored 18 points in a win over Hawaiian Mission

Molimau Heimuli, Farrington — Scored 24 points in a win over Kailua

Katie Itoh, St. Andrew's — Scored 15 points in a loss to Damien

Taegan Keep, Kauai — Scored 21 points in a win over Kapaa

Victoria Kintz, Kaimuki — Scored 20 points in a win over McKinley

Colby Lane, McKinley — Scored 15 points in a loss to Kaimuki

Skyler Nakata, Iolani — Scored 15 points with six rebounds and a steal in a loss to Maryknoll

Susi Namoa, Lahainaluna — Scored 15 points in a win over King Kekaulike

Chyel Palmer, Leilehua — Scored 16 points in a win over Aiea

Dannica Roberts, Hawaiian Mission — Scored 20 points in a loss to Le Jardin

Paea Tafea, Kapaa — Scored 16 points in a loss to Kauai

BOYS SOCCER
Luis-Alberto Aguilar, Leilehua — Scored the lone goal in a win over Waianae

Liam Goetz, Moanalua — Scored three goals in a win over McKinley

Triston Kapahua, Waianae — Scored two goals in a win over Aiea

Michael Scott, Waiakea — Scored three goals in a win over Pahoa

Daniel Souza, Baldwin — Scored the lone goal in a win over Kamehameha-Maui

GIRLS SOCCER
Chelsie Deponte, PAC-5 — Scored four goals in a win over Damien

Randi Fontes, Pearl City — Scored three goals in a win over Radford

Kapuamakamae Gomera-Stevens, Kamehameha — Scored three goals in a win over Mid-Pacific

Hevani Haunga, Kamehameha-Hawaii — Scored four goals in a win over Hawaii Prep

Kylee Kim-Bustillos, Iolani — Scored four goals in a win over Sacred Hearts

Sidney Kiyabu, Mililani — Scored three goals in a win over Nanakuli

Kayla Kunihisa, PAC-5 — Scored three goals in a win over Mid-Pacific

Heather Kolona, Kapolei — Scored three goals in a win over Waialua

Kelci Sumida, Moanalua — Scored four goals in a win over McKinley

Daelenn Tokunaga, Pearl City — Scored four goals in a win over Radford

Mia Watanabe, Iolani — Scored three goals in a win over Damien

Alyssa Yoshida, Kapolei — Scored four goals in a win over Leilehua

Bryana Yoshida, Kapolei — Scored three goals in a win over Leilehua