KEAAU – Kamehameha showed equal parts resiliency and rust against Christian Liberty in a BIIF boys volleyball match on Thursday night at Koaia Gym, where the Warriors battled two opponents.
The taller and more athletic Warriors prevailed over the scrappy and far more efficient Canefire 25-15, 25-23, 21-25, 25-20, overcoming a ton of self-induced errors.
The Warriors finished with 54 unforced errors, including 17 each in Games 2 and 3, while the Canefire had 43 giveaway points. Despite being so error-prone, Kamehameha had too much firepower, balance, and more kills than Christian Liberty, 53-24 kills.
Chase Bridges-Hunter smashed 12 kills, Chyston Loa added 11, and Blane Baclig, the other returning senior starter, had nine kills for the Warriors, who played their bench in Game 3.
Micah Wana had five kills, Glenn Kealoha Jr., Khayden Kahihikolo, and Ty Nishida all had four kills each, Kailihau Pratt added three kills and senior setter Kaiana Kawelu had one kill on a dump shot.
Kawelu is the younger brother of Kamahao Kawelu, a 2019 Kamehameha graduate and former All-BIIF libero. The brothers are the sons of former Hilo High football coach Albert Kawelu.
Josh Rushton had 14 kills to lead the Canefire, while Adam Sako and Christian Lee had four kills each, and Jerry Becker added two kills.
“I thought they played really well for a shorter team,” Kamehameha coach Sam Thomas said. “We just made too many mistakes, too many serving errors, too many hitting errors. I can’t remember a time when we had that many errors. We pride ourselves on ball-control and it just wasn’t here today.
“It’s a long layoff for the kids, and we had some jitters. I wish we could have given them a better match. Obviously, they played a good match.”
The Warriors had three mini-workouts in February and came back to practice a week before spring break, and March 29 the team started up again.
There were a few silver-lining spots that Thomas saw.
“There were some nice connections between our setter Kaimana and Khayden and Ty Nishida,” he said.
Bridges-Hunter, Loa, and Baclig are the last members of the 2019 BIIF championship squad that fell to eventual state champion Punahou in the quarterfinals.
“They played significant minutes as sophomores to win the BIIF title,” Thomas said. “We were hoping for good stuff last year and this year. It’s disappointing (for no BIIF title chase). But we appreciate the few schools that can put together teams so these kids can have something to play.”
Bridges-Hunter signed a scholarship at Windsor University, in Ontario, Canada, where he’ll major in aeronautics with the aspiration of becoming a pilot.
He drew interest from several big-name programs, Lewis, Grand Canyon, Long Beach State, and bitter rival UH-Manoa.
The 6-foot-5 senior will also make a position change in college. He’ll switch from middle blocker to opposite, where he’ll block the other team’s top threat. He put down thunder shots from the right side and middle against the Canefire.
In 2019, Kamehameha won the BIIF championship for the fifth time in six years behind Bridges-Hunter’s blocking and Kamau Makaike’s firepower. Makaike is at Baldwin Wallace, a Division III school in Ohio.
At least for the Canefire, they didn’t let Kamehameha’s bench beat them in Game 3. The Warriors were overly generous and gifted the visitors with 17 free points. Christian Liberty only had to score eight points.
Kamehameha’s starters also gave away 17 free points in Game 2, but the difference was the firepower from the senior trio. Bridges-Hunter clobbered five kills while Loa and Baclig contributed three kills each.
Of the underclassmen who will return for the 2022 BIIF season, sophomore libero Micah Mahuna showed solid serve-receive passing, Wana, a fellow sophomore, and junior Kealoha displayed nice hitting skills.
Much like the Warriors in the coronavirus season, things will look a whole lot different when the next core trio goes chasing after another BIIF title.
