Chase for the Championship
Punahou, Kamehameha to play for the koa again


Spencer Honda | ScoringLive
May 4, 2018, 11:13pm

 


KAPALAMA HEIGHTS — For the fourth year in a row, it will be Interscholastic League of Honolulu foes Kamehameha and Punahou in the Standford Carr Development, LLC/HHSAA Girls Water Polo State Championship game.

In semifinals action Friday evening, Kamehameha played another tough match, narrowly defeating second-seeded Baldwin, 6-3, while Punahou also held strong to beat Kamehameha-Hawaii, 8-2.

The two will square off Saturday evening at 6 p.m. at Kalaniopuu Aquatic Center at Kamehameha Schools Kapalama, marking the ninth time both schools will battle for the koa trophy in the sport's 15-year state tournament history.

"We played with them throughout our high school careers and they're going to give us a hell of a game and so are we," Kamehameha senior Laakea Dedrick said. "I think we'll be satisfied with whoever wins as long as we do our best."

"A lot of us grew up playing with them from (Water Polo USA) ODP. Off the field, we're like really good friends — like sisters. But we know when it's time to come to the pool, it's ready to go," Buffanblu senior Naia Young-Kingsbury said."

Punahou has played for the title 12 times, all of which they have come out victorious.

"It's kind of a lot of pressure sometimes thinking of the legacy. But we always want to make sure we're not just playing for that but playing for each other and trying to make each other better all the time," Young-Kingsbury said. "It's just all about going in, doing the plays and if we make a mistake, just got to get the next play."

It will be Kamehameha's 10th championship game appearance with its lone win coming in 2006 against Kahuku. Iolani is the other school to have won a girls water polo state crown, also defeating Kahuku but in 2007.

Last year, Punahou defeated Kamehameha, 3-2.

Kamehameha celebrating its victory following the conclusion of the match. Spencer Honda | SL    Purchase image

Kamehameha 6, Baldwin 3:

The undefeated Bears came into the state tournament with the second seed, a spot that has typically been claimed by 15-time Oahu Interscholastic Association champ Kahuku. During the regular season, Baldwin's smallest margin of victory was three points in a 8-5 win over Lahainaluna on April 14.

Senior Rebecca Buenrostro-Gallimore got it going right off the bat by winning the first — as well as the three subsequent — sprint to start with possession. A minute, forty seconds later and Jacsen Donohue got on the board with a long lob from well beyond five meters to go up 1-0.

Kamehameha's Lori Char returned the favor on the next possession with a goal off an assist from Monet Bisch.

"Even when they scored first, we just had to trust what we've been practicing, and what we've been doing will carry through. Just trust our team," Char said.

After a tied 3-3 first half, Dedrick got to the five-meter line for a penalty shot and slammed it in for the lead at the 4:16 mark.

Late into the final period with Baldwin still hanging around, Dedrick skipped through four defenders in a man-up situation to net her second goal of the match. Twenty four seconds later and Shaye Story sealed the game with a goal from two meters out to give the Warriors the 6-3 win.

"The shots just weren't falling today. You know, James Harden. It happens. Who's the guy from the Sixers who only had one point? The new rookie?" Baldwin coach Shawn Donohue joked, referring to Philadelphia 76ers Ben Simmons' performance in a National Basketball Association Playoffs game last Thursday. "They're million dollar players and it happens to them, so it's definitely going to happen to teenage girls.

Baldwin took 13 shots from beyond the five-meter line and only one from inside two meters, which Shawn Donohue credited to Kamehameha's defense up front.

"I think we really are a second-half team. We start to work together more and we really push ourselves," Dedrick said, who had a sixth-consecutive multi-goal performance. "For the past four years we played them every single states. I think we were just mentally preparing from our past experiences."

The Bears will play for third place on Saturday and can make history by being the first team from Maui to finish third in a state tournament — Lahainaluna finished fourth in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

Shawn Donohue is also optimistic of the future with four sophomores getting significant playing time this season in combining for 84 goals — 36 of which have come from his daughter Jacsen Donohue, who netted two scores against Kamehameha.

"I'm very proud of this team. This is the farthest any Baldwin team has ever gone," Shawn Donohue said. "It's special too anytime your daughter is out there scoring goals."

"It's hard to pull back that coaching-father type of thing too," he continued jokingly.

Kamehameha-Hawaii 2, Punahou 8:

The Warriors from the Big Island were also on the hunt to make history by being the first neighbor island team to make it to the title game but fell short in hopes of an upset as Punahou defeated Kamehameha-Hawaii, 8-2.

Christina Hicks got Punahou on the board with two goals in the first quarter. KS-Hawaii goalkeeper Nani Spaar had several tough saves and successfully defended two five-meter penalty shots from the Buffanblu.

But the second quarter saw Punahou puncture a hole wide open as they scored four times before the Warriors got on the board with Lahela Rosario's goal with 0:55 remaining in the half.

"We wanted to make sure that we didn't treat it like a lesser game just because we didn't know them," Young-Kingsbury said. "We wanted to come in playing as a team and making sure we stepped up our game to prepare for the championships tomorrow."

Punahou was held to just two goals in the second half as Kukui Haumea netted Kamehameha-Hawaii's second goal with time winding down in the final period.

"Someone said they're shocked and that that's the best anybody has played Punahou. I'm not shocked. It's ridiculous for anybody to say that," Kamehameha-Hawaii coach Dan Lyons said. "Yes, they're Punahou and they have a history, but that's why we play games."

"They're the better team. They won," Lyons continued. "But I'm just not one of the guys who say, ‘It's Punahou and we played them really well so we should be proud of ourselves.'"

Kamehameha-Hawaii will play Baldwin at 4:30 p.m. in the third place game.


Reach Spencer Honda at [email protected].




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