By KEVIN JAKAHI
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
HONOLULU — Down 6-0 after the first quarter, Waiakea spent the next 21 minutes emptying its heart against water polo’s gorilla, Punahou, the four-time defending state champion.
The Warriors swam hard and played much tougher defense, but still fell to the Buffanblu 12-3 in the quarterfinals of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association water polo championships on Thursday at UH’s Duke Kahanamoku pool.
Rachelle Krahner scored two goals and Coco Flores-Onishi had one for Waiakea (10-4), the Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up. Krahner also had six saves as the goalie.
Sarina Shibata and Lauren Boyer scored three goals each to lead Punahou (7-0), the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion. Miranda Estrella, Colleen Fricke, Helena Schaefer, Naomi Ng and Lauren Marquez added one goal each, displaying the Buffanblu’s depth.
When Krahner, a 5-foot-7 senior and her team’s tallest player, walked next to her competition she noticed she was shorter than most everyone. When the Warriors were in the pool, she discovered the Buffanblu swam faster.
Those were useful advantages and helped Punahou score on a pair of breakaways set up by long passes from goalie Keaupono Fey, and most of the closely contested points when physical play became a factor.
But Krahner felt there was one area Waiakea was Punahou’s equal.
“We’re pretty fast but they’re faster. I was at their shoulder when I was walking around the locker room. But we play from the heart,” she said.
That’s what Waiakea coach Haley Rosehill likes about her team.
“My girls never gave up. They pushed to the end,” she said. “That’s something I admire. We could be down six or eight points and we constantly keep pushing.”
For the most part, the Warriors got back on defense. But the Buffanblu still found ways to score. They move the ball well, like they know each other as sisters.
Actually, that’s almost the case. Rosehill pointed out that Punahou has built-in chemistry, playing year-round, starting the sport early, and improving with tough competition from the mainland in summer leagues on Oahu.
“Hilo has no strong summer league,” Rosehill said. “I get most of my girls when they’re sophomores. We kept up with them swimming. We push conditioning. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we do solely conditioning.
“We can go, go, go. When other teams die after four quarters, we can go another seven minutes strong.”
Krahner looked like she could go another seven minutes easy. But after it was over she found satisfaction scoring a pair of goals she didn’t expect.
“I did what my coach told me, get open and call for the ball,” she said. “It was all communication and good passing. I was thinking, ‘What’s happening?’ I didn’t expect it to go in. I was pretty excited. It was the top moment of my water polo career.”
Lauren Hill, who scored three goals in a 4-3 win over Roosevelt, summed up her enjoyable senior experience.
“I’m most proud of our heart,” she said. “The big thing for us team was getting to states. High school should be fun. We all love to win, but we had fun.”