KAILUA-KONA — All year, the BIIF water polo season appeared to be a two-horse race between Kamehameha-Hawaii and Hawaii Preparatory Academy. Both teams entered the playoffs at 9-1, with their only regular-season losses coming against each other.
The BIIF title game was set to serve as the ultimate rubber-match, but Konawaena (7-4) had other plans for Saturday.
Mikala Fernandez recorded a hat trick and Taiana Tolleson came up with a huge performance in net as the Wildcats upset Ka Makani 7-5 in the BIIF semifinals at Kona Community Aquatic Center on Friday.
The win secures Konawaena a spot in Saturday’s BIIF title game and a berth in the HHSAA state tournament from May 6-9 on Oahu.
In the other semifinal, Kamehameha locked up the BIIF’s other state berth and kept its quest for a sixth consecutive BIIF title alive with a convincing 15-6 win over a youthful Kealakehe (4-7) squad. Offensive powerhouse Pua Wong led the way with six goals.
Konawaena and Kamehameha will face off at 11 a.m. on Saturday in the BIIF championship.
While a trip to the state tournament has become an annual one for Kamehameha, it will be the maiden voyage for the Konawaena program that was revived just three years ago.
“We really, really wanted it. We have never been to states, so that was our motivation,” Konawaena senior co-captain Chloe Delaney said. “We had a lot of support from our fans and fed off that energy.”
Another source of motivation for the Wildcats was a loss earlier this month against Ka Makani in Waimea. Konawaena held a narrow lead late, but were outscored 6-1 in the fourth quarter as Hawaii Prep escaped with a 12-7 victory.
The situation was similar Friday. Thanks to a goal from Delaney with 20 seconds left in the third quarter, Konawaena entered the fourth up 4-3.
This time, the Wildcats didn’t take their foot off the gas.
Kaulana Ruedy, Aaliyah Butler and Fernandez all tallied goals in a two-minute span to put HPA in a 7-3 hole. Louisa Duggan and Elizabeth Jim scored late for Ka Makani, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
“We did not want that to happen again, so we played the whole game like we were down,” Delaney said.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Konawaena bench jumped into the water to celebrate, including head coach Michael Godden.
“I give all the credit to the girls. They really wanted this one,” a drenched Godden said.
While it was an extended celebration after Friday’s win, Godden assured that the Wildcats won’t be a pushover against the Warriors in the title game.
“The most important thing is to have a shot at the championship,” Godden said. “We want to shake Kamehameha’s tree a little. We won’t let them just run over us.”