KOHALA COAST — As one stellar tennis career is coming to an end at Hilo High, another is just revving up.
Viking senior Emily Soares capped her historic four-year BIIF run with a third singles title, defeating April Wong of Kealakehe 6-1, 6-2, while Gil Assi finished off a stellar sophomore campaign with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Kohala’s Jamesen Keyes at Mauna Lani Sports and Fitness Club on Saturday.
Soares’ high school career has been simply dominant. She hasn’t dropped a set in the BIIF since ninth grade and won singles titles her freshman, junior and senior seasons. The only gap in her string of singles dominance was her sophomore year, when she won a BIIF doubles title with her sister, Kelly Soares.
“I couldn’t have done this without my family, coaches and hitting partners,” Soares said. “They really made me who I am today. I couldn’t have had success without them.”
Hilo head coach Wayne Yamada has seen Soares come up through his Viking program, watching her develop on and off the court.
“Singles, doubles — it didn’t matter for Emily,” he said. “I love her work ethic. Every day she works hard, and on top of that she is just a great teammate. That’s all you can ask for out of a kid.”
If Soares had a checklist for her high school career, most of the boxes are filled. There’s just a few left.
“Well, graduation,” Soares said for a second before blurting out. “Oh, and states, of course.”
Soares — who holds the No. 2 spot in the USTA Hawaii Pacific girls 18 rankings — is expected to be a high, if not top seed at the upcoming state tournament at Mauna Lani. She finished third last year.
The last BIIF girls player to pocket a state title was Kealakehe’s Sayo Tsukamoto in 2010, a four-time BIIF champion.
On the boys side, Assi reeled off an equally impressive season, not dropping a set on his way to the singles crown. However, he didn’t enter the year with the same stacked resume as Soares.
“Unless you have that title on your resume, people will question,” Yamada said. “But we felt going in he could win it all. He had that kind of potential, but he still had to work hard and prove himself.”
Last year, Assi was the third seed at the BIIF tournament, and lost to Keyes in the third place match 3-6, 4-6. A lot can change in a year.
“Coming into this season, I couldn’t have imagined winning this tournament. I really had to work hard for this,” Assi said. “It’s just a great feeling.”
Chris Brilhante — who coaches the Hilo boys program — saw Assi mold into a champion during the year, thanks to some tough opponents keeping him on his toes.
“The BIIF is a great, competitive environment to be in,” Brilhante said. “Gil always had to be ready mentally. The other boys on this island pushed him to become a better player.”
Keyes is a junior, and has to settle for runner-up honors, but made big strides of his own to reach the championship match. In the regular season, he lost to Konawaena’s Pancho Shelton 2-6, 3-6. In the BIIF tournament, he knocked off Shelton — the No. 2 seed — in the semis 6-3, 6-1 to advance.
“Pancho beat him pretty handily during the regular season,” Kohala head coach Hermann Fernandez said. “This time, Jameson was able to turn it around, follow a game plan and play a mentally strong game.”
The Assi/Keyes matchup still has another year to play out, but Fernandez — who is well-cultured on the climate of competition in the BIIF — knows it will be a tall task to take down the newly crowned Viking champ.
“Gil is a tough nut to crack. He is all business out there — very ambitious and focused,” Fernandez said. “He has goals and really puts in the work.”
Next up is the HHSAA tournament, which will be held May 5-7 on the courts of the Fairmont Orchid and Mauna Lani Sports and Fitness Club. Home turf is a welcomed leg-up for BIIF qualifiers.
“It’s nice that everyone can come and watch,” Assi said. “Last year my parents couldn’t make it to Oahu, so it will be great to have a home crowd cheering us on.”