KAILUA-KONA — While Hawaii Prep and Kamehamehe grab most of the headlines as they battle for the top seed for the BIIF water polo playoffs, and Kealakehe clings to third place, a battle is underway for the final playoff spot
KAILUA-KONA — While Hawaii Prep and Kamehamehe grab most of the headlines as they battle for the top seed for the BIIF water polo playoffs, and Kealakehe clings to third place, a battle is underway for the final playoff spot between Hilo, Konawaena and Waiakea.
All three teams entered Saturday’s matches at the Kona Community Aquatic Center with one win this season.
After Hilo dropped the opening match to Hawaii Prep 23-7 and Kamehameha made quick work of Kealakehe 19-9, Konawaena and Waiakea faced off in the closest match of the afternoon. The Wildcats beat the Warriors 13-8 to slide into fourth place with 20 days to go before the playoffs begin.
“I knew this was going to be a close competition because we are on a pretty much on the same level with Waiakea,” Konawaena head coach Michael Godden said. “I am pretty happy with how we played today.”
Konawaena took a 4-2 lead in the first quarter behind two goals each by Bailey Walters and Aaliyah Butler. The second quarter was an offensive battle with both teams netting four goals each. Butler led the Wildcats at the half with four scores.
Waiakea took advantage of several ejections to stay close, with five of their first six goals came with an extra man.
Ejections were the story of the game. Konawaena had 10 and Waiakea only had one.
“We were getting ejected a lot and I tried to get the girls to play a little more cautiously to avoid those things,” Godden said. “I am not sure why we had so many today because we don’t coach that type of play.”
Though the Wildcats struggled with ejections, the defense managed to step its game up a notch in the second half, but not without sacrificing a little offense. Konawaena outscored Waiakea 2-1 in the third quarter and 3-1 in the fourth.
Akane Williams led the Wildcats offense in the second half with three goals. Butler added one more goal for a game high of five.
“I thought I did okay,” Butler said. “My mental game is what is most important to me and without it I would just give up and not try. As a captain I just try to push through and be an example and that is what I did out there.”
Kelee Shimizu led the Warriors with four goals, three of which came in the first half and two were extraman goals.
“I personally don’t feel like we played the best we could have possibly played,” Waiakea coach Hailey Rosehill said. “Our passing was bad and Konawaena kept capitalizing on our mistakes.”
Best of the rest
In the opening game, Hilo was no match for the well oiled HPA machine. Ka Makani went on an 8-1 run in the second quarter and an 8-2 run in the fourth to pull away for the easy win.
Louisa Duggan led Hawaii Prep with six goals. Kira Parker and Ava Jean Johnson added five goals each. Elizabeth Jim scored four times.
Jaelyn Estabillo and Ashleigh Kahawaiolaa scored two goals apiece for the Vikings.
In the second game, Kamehameha jumped out to a 12-2 lead at the half behind a pair of 6-1 quarters. With Kamehameha playing mostly their subs in the second half, the Waveriders managed to win the third quarter 5-2, before the Warriors turned the score around in the final quarter with a 5-2 performance.
Kamehameha’s Alyssa Pelanca had the game of the day with eight goals. Katelyn Kubo added six goals.
Kealakehe had four girls with two goals each — Maiana Villegas, Madeline Foo, Skyler Hudson and Tiara Conn.
