HILO — The 2025 Big Island Interscholastic water polo season got underway this past Saturday with four teams converging in the pool at Hilo High for some action-filled matches.
The schools competing in island water polo this season are Hawaii Preparatory Academy, Hilo, Kamehameha Schools-Hawai‘i, Kealakehe, Kea‘au and Waiakea. The first day of competition saw Hilo, KSH, Kealakehe and Kea‘au playing two matches each.
The early matchups were lopsided affairs, with the Lady Vikings and Warriors each picking up easy victories — setting the stage for an afternoon contest between the two teams with the biggest squads.
Hilo opened the third match of the day with smothering defense designed to keep the Lady Warriors off balance and having to work hard to find open shots. During the first quarter, the Lady Vikings’ offense was able to find a number of fast breaks that led to easy goals and a 7-1 first quarter lead. KSH had some success in the second quarter, out-scoring Hilo 4-3 and finishing the half down 10-5.
Hilo continued playing aggressive defense in the second half — out-scoring the Lady Warriors 4-1 to lead to a 14-6 final score, giving KSH a 2-0 start to the season.
Hilo second-year head coach Kanoe Lyons credited her team’s defense-first approach for the victories.
“We really push a strong press defense to put some pressure on the perimeter players to see how they handle the ball,” she said.
Lyons focused exclusively on defense during her first year as coach, but now is building an offense that plays off their defensive intensity. Although the aggressive nature of the Hilo defense drew a lot of penalties, the calls were mostly minor — resulting in a simple reset of the action, breaking the competition’s rhythm and eating up time on the 30-second shot clock. According to Lyons, this strategy allows the goalie and interior defenders to block shots and swipe for steals, leading to fast breaks and easy scoring opportunities.
Hilo’s Noelani Moleni led the Lady Vikings with four goals apiece. When asked how it felt to lead the team in scoring, Noelani said she was, “lifted up by her teammates, who push me to perform at my best.”
Marisa Oishi (three goals), Stella Raye (three goals), Terangi Moleni (two goals), Ariana Sibayan (one goal), and Lilinoe Tonelli (one goal) rounded out the scoring for Hilo. The Lady Warriors’ scorers were Oliliu Wise (three goals) and Caylee Cook, Koali Ito and Veda Lee each adding one goal.
The first match of the day saw KSH face off against the Kea‘au Lady Cougars. The Lady Warriors had the long game working early, connecting on several “length of the pool” passes to score easy goals and take a 14-1 halftime lead.
The scoring barrage continued in the second half for KSH, who won the match 24-3. The Lady Warriors logged goals from Ito (five goals), Aubrey Kajikawai (four goals), Wise (three goals), Cook (three goals), Kaihilei Ako (three goals), Kaopualani Puniwai-Ganoot (two goals), Lauren Kamau’u (two goals) and Lee (two goals). The Lady Cougars got one goal each from Harper Scott, Penelope Bedolla and Olena Hardbottle.
The second match of the day featured Hilo taking on Kealakehe. The Lady Waveriders, who only had one substitute on the bench, had a hard time keeping up with the aggressive play of the much-larger Lady Vikings squad. Hilo led by a 9-2 margin at halftime.
The barrage continued in the second half, with the Lady Vikings adding 10 goals to Kealakehe’s one for a 19-3 final score.
Hilo was led in scoring by Sibayan (three goals), Lily Hubbard (three goals), Tonelli (three goals) and Moleni (two goals) with Keolakai Maka’imoku, Tess Hagan, Ryah Calicdan, Noelani Moleni, Desme Pe’a-Whitney, Emma Iwashita, Raye and Teuila Barclay each adding one apiece. Hannah White (two goals) and Alana Mast (one goal) scored for the Lady ‘Riders.
Kealakehe faced off against Kea‘au in the final match of the day. The Lady Waveriders notched their first win of the season with a 19-3 victory.
The leading scorers for Kealakehe were White (four goals), Sola Laliberte (4), Mele McMichael (two goals), Macailey Lund (two goals), Aiyana Martinez (two goals), June Wheeler (two goals), Mast (two goals) and Makenna Honsberger (one goal). The Lady Cougars got goals from Hardbottle (two goals) and Scott (one goal).
The BIIF water polo season will continue this upcoming Saturday at Kona Community Aquatic Center. See the BIIF schedule on Page 3B for matchups and start times. Also see Page 3B to view the full slate of statistics from this past weekend’s matches.
